Evidence supports \'hot start\' scenario and early ocean formation on Pluto

Evidence supports 'hot start' scenario and early ocean formation on Pluto

Space Daily Wednesday, 24 June 2020 ()
Evidence supports 'hot start' scenario and early ocean formation on PlutoSanta Cruz CA (SPX) Jun 23, 2020

The accretion of new material during Pluto's formation may have generated enough heat to create a liquid ocean that has persisted beneath an icy crust to the present day, despite the dwarf planet's orbit far from the sun in the cold outer reaches of the solar system. This "hot start" scenario, presented in a paper published June 22 in Nature Geoscience, contrasts with the traditional view
0
shares
 
Video credit: AmazeLab - Published
News video: Pluto May Have Started Hot and Had an Ocean From the Beginning

Pluto May Have Started Hot and Had an Ocean From the Beginning 01:02

 It was previously thought that Pluto started off as a ball of ice, eventually forming a subsurface ocean later on, but new research suggests the dwarf planet experienced a “hot start” that created an early ocean, which has been freezing over time.