As New Horizons closes in on Pluto and Charon, it may be able to detect signs that one or both objects boast icy plumes, either now or in their past. Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute
A new study of objects in the outer reaches of the solar system suggests that bodies like Pluto and Charon have the potential to support eruptions of icy material. The research indicates that if cryo-volcanism has occurred on Pluto, Charon’s surface could retain evidence of such events.
The research was published online in the journal Icarus, and was supported by the NASA Astrobiology Institute node at Arizona State University.