The incredible things we find on Pluto -- new photographs show that not only do they have a lot of craters, but some of them have a halo effect.
It's been almost a year since man was finally able to reach and see the dwarf planet through New Horizons spacecraft, but the multitudes of pictures it obtained through its flyby continue to astound us.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has released on April 21 a series of photographs identifying the presence of certain unique craters in the western side of the planet in the Vega Terra region, a cratered plateau upland.
These halo craters are quite big, with the largest measuring 50 kilometers (30 miles) across, although it still pales in comparison to the biggest impact crater on Earth found in South Africa called Vredefort Dome, which spans 300 kilometers (186 miles) wide. It is also the oldest, estimated to be more than 2 billion years old.
The upper-left photo shows these "craters on Pluto look like a cluster of bright halos scattered across a dark landscape," tweeted NASA.
The lower-right photo, on the other hand, is from Ralph/Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array (LEISA) of New Horizons.
"[It should] indicate a connection between the bright halos and distribution of methane ice, shown in false color as purple. The floors and terrain between craters show signs of water ice, colored in blue," NASA explained.
While the images and the subsequent discovery are fascinating, the scientists aren't quite sure why these halo craters exist, although one possible explanation is the presence of methane ice on their walls and rims.
The scientists are also stumped on why these types of craters are not found across the planet even if it has a lot of methane ice. Most probably, we just have to attribute it to the extremely varied terrains of the planet.
Ever since the flyby, both scientists and space enthusiasts seem to be having a grand time discovering various shapes on the planet's surface like a giant spider, as well as possible unique crystal structures composed of methane and benzene, which make up remnants of a frozen lake.
So the question is, can you guess what NASA will find next?
