NASA reports that the latest images received from its New Horizons space probe reveal snow at the peaks of Pluto’s mountains. But unlike the crisp, pleasant snowfall we get on Earth, the snow on Pluto is methane-based (not water).
It’s an incredible discovery. To put things in perspective: Earth lies around 93 million miles from the Sun. Pluto is around forty times that distance (on average); hence, you’d be forgiven for believing it to be a dead, dull world — far too cold to boast weather of any kind. And yet, even at Pluto’s mind-boggling distance, this rocky dwarf-planet enjoys enough heat from the Sun and/or its core to maintain an atmosphere with clouds and snow (albeit strange snow by human standards).
Methane has a lower freezing point than water. This helps it to remain in a liquid state at low temperatures. Methane rain has already been detected on Saturn’s moon, Titan, so perhaps methane snow is not all that surprising. But on Pluto? Now that surely deserves a few headlines!
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