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New Horizons data suggests mountains of nitrogen ice on Pluto have evaporated
Baltimore Sun ^ | 7/17/15 | Scott Dance

Posted on 07/18/2015 10:20:19 PM PDT by LibWhacker

The latest data downloaded from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft suggests that mountains of nitrogen ice thousands of feet high have evaporated into Pluto's atmosphere since the dwarf planet formed 4.5 billion years ago, and hundreds of tons of that gas escape into space each hour.

New images of Pluto meanwhile show land forms that suggest heat is rising beneath the surface, with troughs of dark matter either collecting or bubbling up between flat segments of crust.

Scientists discussed the findings Friday in their second major release of data collected when the $700 million New Horizons mission made a historic pass 7,700 miles from Pluto on Tuesday. Scientists and engineers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel are managing the mission.

They said Pluto continues to surprise and impress them.

"Pluto's becoming a brand that sort of sells itself. You don't really have to work all that hard," said Alan Stern, the New Horizons mission's principal investigator and a scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. "I think the solar system saved the best for last."

(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Science
KEYWORDS: catastrophism; charon; cryovolcano; evaporated; mountains; nasa; newhorizons; nitrogen; pluto
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You wanted weird? On Earth mountains are worn down through weathering and erosion. On Pluto they evaporate. Mountains evaporate.
1 posted on 07/18/2015 10:20:19 PM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker
More evidence of the far reaching effects of ‘climate change.’ sarc.
2 posted on 07/18/2015 10:23:14 PM PDT by Idaho_Cowboy (Ride for the Brand. Joshua 24:15)
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To: Idaho_Cowboy; LibWhacker

The Mi-Go and Tsathoggua on Yuggoth must get rid of their SUV’s!


3 posted on 07/18/2015 10:27:01 PM PDT by Darksheare (Those who support liberal "Republicans" summarily support every action by same.)
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To: LibWhacker

#Pluto’sNitrogenMatters


4 posted on 07/18/2015 10:29:04 PM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
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To: LibWhacker

A giant ball of dry ice sort of evaporating as it hurtles uhhh flies thru space..

Should name it Planet Clinton.. Disintegrating as we watch from afar.


5 posted on 07/18/2015 10:29:45 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (SEMPER FI!! - Monthly Donors Rock!!)
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To: LibWhacker

Where did all that nitrogen come from?


6 posted on 07/18/2015 10:31:09 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: LibWhacker

Melting nitrogen ice mountains. Space Commander algore warned us about garthok knarfling, and now here we are.


7 posted on 07/18/2015 10:35:20 PM PDT by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives.)
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To: LibWhacker

Oh, my. Climate change on Pluto, too? Bet those Pluton democrats are pissed. Gonna have to start requiring car pools. No more back yard BBQs on Pluto!


8 posted on 07/18/2015 10:38:57 PM PDT by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!)
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To: LibWhacker

Does Al Gore know?


9 posted on 07/18/2015 10:39:52 PM PDT by MarMema (Run Ted Run)
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To: LibWhacker
New Horizons data suggests mountains of nitrogen ice on Pluto have evaporated

CO2!!!!

10 posted on 07/18/2015 10:45:48 PM PDT by publius911 (If you like Obamacare, You'll LOVE ObamaWeb.)
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To: tumblindice

PS And so it begins ...


11 posted on 07/18/2015 10:51:45 PM PDT by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives.)
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To: LibWhacker

I am actually surprised they used the word “evaporate”. I would have expected them to use the term “sublimate”.


12 posted on 07/18/2015 10:54:12 PM PDT by BRK
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To: smokingfrog

Made in the core of stars. Our own air is 78% nitrogen. So there is a lot of it around. Its abundance Universe-wide is a paltry 0.1%. That’s not a paradox. It obviously differentiates very nicely into planetary crusts and atmospheres, as you’d expect of such a light element. But that’s just my lay opinion. I’m sure someone more knowledgable than me can clarify things for us!


13 posted on 07/18/2015 10:54:15 PM PDT by LibWhacker ("Because once you pee on someone's face, you HAVE to shoot him.")
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To: BRK

Can’t expect too much accuracy out of the Baltimore Sun!


14 posted on 07/18/2015 10:56:07 PM PDT by LibWhacker ("Because once you pee on someone's face, you HAVE to shoot him.")
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To: smokingfrog
Where did all that nitrogen come from?

From Uranus. Ha ha ha ha! Ho ho ho ho! He he he he!

15 posted on 07/18/2015 10:57:38 PM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
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To: Jim Robinson

I bet they’re fudging the data out there, too! Evaporating mountains is probably way over-hyped, stupid Pluton ‘rats!


16 posted on 07/18/2015 11:05:05 PM PDT by LibWhacker ("Because once you pee on someone's face, you HAVE to shoot him.")
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To: BRK
"Pluto's becoming a brand that sort of sells itself. You don't really have to work all that hard," said Alan Stern, the New Horizons mission's principal investigator and a scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. "I think the solar system saved the best for last."

So much science talk.....NOT... Sounds like a presentation for a marketing plan. Which it probably is.

17 posted on 07/18/2015 11:05:44 PM PDT by BRK
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To: Greetings_Puny_Humans

and that’s why my farts don’t smell


18 posted on 07/18/2015 11:14:10 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: BRK

That is because you are scientically literate. They aren’t.


19 posted on 07/18/2015 11:14:46 PM PDT by piytar (Good will be called evil and Evil will be called good.)
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To: LibWhacker

The Plutans are gonna have to give up their SUVS.


20 posted on 07/18/2015 11:21:06 PM PDT by wjcsux ("In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." - George Orwell)
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