Scientists introduce cosmochemical model for Pluto formation

Phys dot org ^ | May 23, 2018 | Southwest Research Institute

[SunkenCiv]

Southwest Research Institute scientists integrated NASA's New Horizons discoveries with data from ESA's Rosetta mission to develop a new theory about how Pluto may have formed at the edge of our solar system.

"We've developed what we call 'the giant comet' cosmochemical model of Pluto formation," said Dr. Christopher Glein of SwRI's Space Science and Engineering Division. The research is described in a paper published online today in Icarus. At the heart of the research is the nitrogen-rich ice in Sputnik Planitia, a large glacier that forms the left lobe of the bright Tombaugh Regio feature on Pluto's surface. "We found an intriguing consistency between the estimated amount of nitrogen inside the glacier and the amount that would be expected if Pluto was formed by the agglomeration of roughly a billion comets or other Kuiper Belt objects similar in chemical composition to 67P, the comet explored by Rosetta."

In addition to the comet model, scientists also investigated a solar model, with Pluto forming from very cold ices that would have had a chemical composition that more closely matches that of the Sun.

Scientists needed to understand not only the nitrogen present at Pluto now—in its atmosphere and in glaciers—but also how much of the volatile element potentially could have leaked out of the atmosphere and into space over the eons. They then needed to reconcile the proportion of carbon monoxide to nitrogen to get a more complete picture. Ultimately, the low abundance of carbon monoxide at Pluto points to burial in surface ices or to destruction from liquid water.

"Our research suggests that Pluto's initial chemical makeup, inherited from cometary building blocks, was chemically modified by liquid water, perhaps even in a subsurface ocean," Glein said.

[SunkenCiv]

New Horizons not only showed humanity what Pluto looks like, but also provided information on the composition of Pluto’s atmosphere and surface. These maps — assembled using data from the Ralph instrument — indicate regions rich in methane (CH4), nitrogen (N2), carbon monoxide (CO) and water (H2O) ices. Sputnik Planitia shows an especially strong signature of nitrogen near the equator. SwRI scientists combined these data with Rosetta’s comet 67P data to develop a proposed “giant comet” model for Pluto formation. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

[SunkenCiv]

"To Pluto And Far Beyond" By David H. Levy, Parade, January 15, 2006 -- We don't have a dictionary definition yet that includes all the contingencies. In the wake of the new discovery, however, the International Astronomical Union has set up a group to develop a workable definition of planet. For our part, in consultation with several experienced planetary astronomers, Parade offers this definition: A planet is a body large enough that, when it formed, it condensed under its own gravity to be shaped like a sphere. It orbits a star directly and is not a moon of another planet.

[SunkenCiv]

"Ninth Planet" keyword:

• Pluto Mission Takes Aim at Last Unvisited Planet [2005]
• NASA Finds Another Solar System Mystery based on Stardust mission [2006]
• Death Spiral: Why Theorists Can't Make Solar Systems [2006]
• New insights into composition of giant planets [2006]
• Gas Giants Jump Into Planet Formation Early [2007]
• Jupiter Increases Risk Of Comet Strike On Earth [2007]
• Did an ancient impact bowl Pluto over? [2007]
• The Chaotic Genesis of Planets [ FREE PREVIEW ] [2008]
• Did Pluto Take a Punch? [from 2003] [2008]
• Are Jupiters Hard to Come By? [2008]
• Were Mercury and Mars separated at birth? [2009]
• The Curious Case of Missing Asteroids [2009]
• Asteroid Belt Loaded with Former Comets [2009]
• On the Fringe: Astronomers look to the Kuiper belt for clues to the solar system's history [2010]
• 'Jupiter swallowed planet 10 times the size of Earth' [2010]
• Giant planet ejected from the solar system [2011]
• When straying Jupiter went on the pull [2012]
• Pluto's Moons Tumble in Orbit, Hubble Measurements Reveal [2015]
• Public asked to help name features on Pluto [2015]
• Weird Orbital Behaviors Offer Clues to the Origins of Pluto's Moons [2015]
• Pluto a Planet Again? It May Happen This Year [2015]
• NASA's Latest Pluto Images Actually Show a Planet [2015]
• Is there a Planet X, a 'massive perturber,' hidden beyond Pluto? [2015]
• Scientists may have found Planet X, the mysterious presence that has eluded astronomers [2015]
• Ninth Planet May Exist in Solar System Beyond Pluto, New Evidence Suggests [2016]
• There's a ninth planet in our solar system - we just can't see it yet, study says [2016]
• Researchers find evidence of a real ninth planet [2016]
• Don't Blame 'Planet Nine' for Earth's Mass Extinctions [2016]
• Search Narrows For Planet Nine [2016]
• Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Pluto's Bladed Terrain in 3D [2016]
• Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Sputnik Planum vs. Krun Macula [2016]
• PLUTO IS STILL LEGALLY A PLANET (WHENEVER IT PASSES OVER NEW MEXICO) [2017]
• Pluto has dunes, but they're not made of sand [2018]
• Researchers Say the Reason Pluto Lost Its Planet Status is Not Valid [2018]
• Plutonian craters to be named after Star Trek characters [2018]

[SunkenCiv]

The Debate: Is Pluto A Planet, Asteroid Or Comet?
from March 19, 1996
https://news.utk.edu/1996/03/19/the-debate-is-pluto-a-planet-asteroid-or-comet/

Pluto Has A Comet-Like Tail, X-Rays, NASA Discovers
Sep 14, 2016, 01:00pm
https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2016/09/14/thats-no-comet-thats-pluto-comet-like-tail-and-x-rays-discovered-at-solar-systems-edge/

Is Pluto Actually a Mash-up of a Billion Comets?
By Julissa Trevino
smithsonian.com
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-think-pluto-made-billions-comets-180969183/

[SunkenCiv]

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[faithhopecharity]

Where’s Dr Velikovsky when we need him?

[Telepathic Intruder]

My definition of a planet: whatever the professionals say and not those who have nostalgic feelings for a tiny ball of ice they’ll never even see themselves.

[exDemMom]

I will *never* accept Pluto’s demotion from planet status.

;)

[bert]

Pluto and every object in the solar system both large and very small were formed in the same manner. Gravitational forces attracted matter that accreted into a larger and larger mass

That process is ongoing

[SunkenCiv]

IOW, you agree with David Levy, good to know.

[Telepathic Intruder]

If that’s his position on this, then sure. I’ve heard about Pluto from people who get their knowledge of astronomy from Star Wars.

[Telepathic Intruder]

Heard enough, I mean. I’m typing with a splinted index finger.

[SunkenCiv]

The demotion of Pluto was an entirely political act, carried out by a small group.

[Telepathic Intruder]

OK I’ll bite. What was their political motivation for reclassifying Pluto as a dwarf planet?

[SunkenCiv]

A group of foreign a-holes suddenly wanted the huge controversy (/sarc) about the definition of planet settled, otherwise the entire science of astronomy was going right into the bin (/sarc), and they just happened to concentrate their fire on the only planet that to that point had been discovered by someone in the US. The first proposals were too hostile, so a compromise was reached.

[Telepathic Intruder]

Well, regardless of their political views, their reasoning is very much grounded in actual astrophysics. Planets form by sweeping up all the material in their respective orbits, more or less dominating them. Pluto formed in a manner more similar to asteroids in the asteroid belt. It has far more similarities to them and other KBO’s (Kuiper belt objects), so it’s not a far stretch that it deserves to be classified among them. But we’re still discovering things about it, so who knows...

[P.O.E.]

they’ll never even see themselves

Apparently you weren't around in the 60's & 70's. Spent more than one evening there.

[PLMerite]

"Scientists introduce cosmochemical model for Pluto formation"

Does that mean that Pluto is just like, a bad trip, man?

[Telepathic Intruder]

I was around for most of the 60’s, but not old enough to join the culture you’re probably referring to. I think the same drugs were still around in the 80’s, though...

[P.O.E.]

I was just joking. I think you can get the same effect with tequila, though. :)