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Rediscovering Pluto PERSPECTIVES || JOURNAL OF CREATION 29(3) 2015 for various mapping operations, an tidal heating from the planet the moon Rediscovering infrared spectrometer, a radiometer orbits. But Pluto is not a moon and (for gas measurements), a solar wind thus tidal effects cannot be a source Pluto detector, a particle spectrometer, a dust of internal heat. In a solar system collector, and a very high resolution only several thousand years old, Wayne Spencer CCD imager with a telephoto lens for energy could still be dissipating from taking high quality photos. creation. Scientists may try to appeal n 18 February 1930 Clyde to radioactive minerals heating Pluto, OTombaugh discovered Pluto. On but being a relatively small body with a The Pluto system 14 July 2015, Pluto was rediscovered density less than 2.0 g/cm3, radioactive through the New Horizons mission. Pluto has five known moons that isotopes are likely to be in short The surface of Pluto possesses a fas­ orbit it as well as other small objects supply. (Note that Pluto was redefined cinating variety of features (figure 1). that orbit the sun in or near its orbit to be a ‘dwarf planet’ in 2006 by the Astronomers have long wished it were (called Plutinos). The largest object International Astronomical Union.4) possible to get better information on orbiting Pluto is Charon (pronounced Following are some of the important Pluto, but the wait is now over. Pluto like ‘Sharon’). Pluto and Charon both things observed at Pluto by the New has long raised a number of chal­ orbit a centre of gravity located about Horizons spacecraft. Note that these lenging questions for scientists. Now one eighth the distance from Pluto to are early results and much more data with the new information from the Charon. Pluto has a spin axis tilted will be received from the spacecraft New Horizons mission, much of the 122.5 degrees relative to the ecliptic in coming months. science of Pluto has to be rethought. plane (defined by earth’s orbit), • Pluto is losing very large quantities Pluto and its companion Charon turn making it oriented similar to Uranus.2 of nitrogen into space. In a NASA out to be much more geologically Pluto’s orbit around the sun is inclined Media Briefing on July 17, 2015 one interesting than expected. Though of the researchers said an early esti­ time is needed to digest the new by about 17 degrees with respect to mate was that 500 tons of Nitrogen information, there are hints of creation the ecliptic. Charon orbits Pluto implications from Pluto already that with the same orbital period as the were escaping Pluto every hour. are consistent with other bodies in the spin period of Pluto—approximately • Pluto was found to be somewhat 2 solar system, such as moons of the 6.4 earth days. larg er than previous estimates. It’s outer planets. Significant discoveries have already diameter is now measured as 5 The New Horizons mission itself been made by New Horizons regarding 2,370 km. This means its density will help us understand the outermost Pluto and Charon, though data will has been revised down ward and region of our solar system. The New continue to be transmitted back to it has more ice than pre viously Horizons spacecraft travelled for earth for months. There are interesting thought. nine years to reach Pluto. To reach gas phenomena occurring on Pluto and • The surface has a variety of ‘zones’ such a distant object, New Horizons there is evidence of geological activity of different characters. There are was launched from earth at a greater on the surface. On 10 July 2015, dark regions along its equator that speed than any other spacecraft before its closest approach, the NASA have more craters, and yet much of to ever leave earth’s orbit. The team posted a news release saying the surface is covered with ice and spacecraft travelled at a speed of 15 “Houston, we have geology”.3 This is a possesses few craters. km per second on its way to Pluto.1 loaded statement that implies surprise • There are other mysterious struc­ Thus, New Horizons was only able and challenges to prior assumptions tures on part of the surface thought to make one pass by Pluto. It simply about Pluto. Pluto has often been to be mounds bounded by crevices. wasn’t possible to include enough fuel compared to some of the icy moons These are referred to by geologists in such a spacecraft to slow it down of the outer solar system, especially as ‘polygonal features’. enough to orbit Pluto or make more Triton (at Neptune). Scientists have • Pluto has mountain ranges. One of than one pass. The New Horizons tended to assume that small objects the ranges has been compared to spacecraft is said to be about the size would lose their internal heat after earth’s Rocky mountains and an ­ of a grand piano and is packed with over four billion years and thus they other to the Appalachian mountains a variety of scientific instruments. could not still be geologically active. in height. These mount ains are There is an ultraviolet imaging spec­ When they are found to be active, it believed to be made of water ice. trometer for gas measurements, a is often assumed that the energy to • Charon (measured to be 1,208 km special multispectral imaging system drive geological processes comes from in diameter) also has an icy surface 3 JOURNAL OF CREATION 29(3) 2015 || PERSPECTIVES that is geologically interesting. It has make a dark deposit on the surface. As known moons, Pluto was expected to large canyons and varied terrain. of this writing, without the detailed possess more craters. Ice layers on the Ices present on the surface include spectra, it is uncertain what the dark surface may also be moving. There nitrogen, carbon monoxide, methane, material on the surface is but scientists are also round or polygonal structures and ethane with nitrogen being the most tend to assume it is a mixture of organic on the surface that have apparently abundant. (Solid ethane was detected on ices, probably including tholins. There been filled with ice. The ‘polygonal Pluto in 1999 by the Subaru telescope, is also a dark region near the North Pole features’ have been seen on other with its infrared spectrometer.6) The of Charon but little data is available bodies in the solar system, such as ices on Pluto tend to sublimate (turn on this as yet. near Mars’ polar caps. There has been directly to gas), especially nitrogen Pluto’s surface includes light regions significant debate by geologists on the and carbon monoxide. The gases may where ice appears fresh as well as dark origin of these structures. They are not move across the surface, possibly areas. Some areas have sig nificant likely to be impact structures, but may in a seasonal manner. There may topography, with mountains up to to suggest uplift from below, or perhaps be nitrogen or organic snow. Since 3,500 m (11,000 ft) in height (figure 2). contraction of blocks of ice, or perhaps Pluto’s orbital period is 248 earth years, A large circular or heart­shaped white even convection phenomena under the surface and gas processes probably region (figure 1) has been named surface. vary over periods of several decades, the Tombaugh Regio after Clyde as Pluto traverses its orbit.7 Hazes Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto. were observed by New Horizons at The dark regions on the surface seem Conclusions altitudes of approximately 120 km older since they possess more impact When something new is discovered above Pluto. This puts hazes at a higher craters. But much of the sur face or seen for the first time, such as the altitude than existing models support, shows very few craters, which again photos of Pluto from New Horizons, 8 according to one scientist. Organic implies geological activity or some it is natural for there to be some compounds could form from ultra­ resurfacing phenomena at work. In speculation from both scientists and violet light driving chemical reactions a region on the edge of the Kuiper others about implications of the new in the gases above the surface and the belt with a number of small objects information. Both evolutionists and products from these reactions could in its vicinity including Pluto’s five creationists have a tendency to inter­ pret things in terms of their own world view. Thus secular scientists look at the surface of an object in our solar system like Pluto, with few craters and they may say it has a ‘young’ surface. But to someone with a secular evolutionary viewpoint, ‘young’ may mean a few hundred million years, based on models of cratering rates, for example. But to a young­age creationist, ‘young’ means only several thousand years. A sec­ ular scientist may not assume Pluto formed when the solar system formed, necessarily, but they will assume a much older age than a young­age creation viewpoint. To a scientist, age assumptions then determine the kind of processes that are considered to be likely for explaining the object. In my experience, if there is good quality data, over a period of years research Figure 1. Mosaic of Pluto from the New Horizons spacecraft, taken 13 July 2015 from a distance tends to expose problems with of 768,000 km. Prominent ‘heart’ shaped region is the Tombaugh Regio. NASA/Johns Hopkins evolutionary scientific models. Thus, University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute. for Pluto, creationists should watch 4 PERSPECTIVES || JOURNAL OF CREATION 29(3) 2015 Figure 2.
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