Data from the Hubble Space Telescope suggests that 2014 MU69, a tiny Kuiper Belt object (KBO) located approximately 1 billion miles beyond Pluto, is at least as red as the dwarf planet.
The scientists involved in this project already have data from telescope observations, according to which Pluto's icy surface below the level of the atmosphere is bright. The new flyby observations don't only confirm this but also show that Pluto's brightest areas are among the most reflective ones in the entire solar system.
"Because we see a pattern of high surface reflectivity equating to activity, we can infer that the dwarf planet Eris, which is known to be highly reflective, is also likely to be active," explained Bonnie Buratti, co-investigator from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The scientists' excitement concerning the exploration of New Horizons is reinforced by these observations, as it suggests that other missions should be also focused on sending probes to Pluto in order to validate these hypotheses and maybe even come to new conclusions.
Pluto's layered atmosphere seems to be hazy, however, which suggests the planet is free of clouds. Should this not be the case, it would imply that the weather and atmosphere on Pluto are even more complicated than initially thought.
It's possible for the dwarf planet to have rare condensation clouds, according to NASA's specialists interpretation of the probe's observation. The hypothesis, however, will have to be verified during other missions targeted to explore the dwarf planet.
Hubble and New Horizons have tried to explored the Kuiper Belt region, taking advantage of their venture points and aiming at obtaining as much information on the activity in the area as possible. MU69 is the tiniest KBO with measured color, confirming that it is among the oldest materials of our entire solar system.
New Horizons is over 3.4 billion miles away from Earth and approximately 340 million miles beyond Pluto, with an average speed of 9 miles per second. Roughly all the data gathered and stored from the spacecraft's mission has already been sent to Earth, remaining to complete its transmission on Oct. 23.
The discovery comes short after establishing, back in July, that the dwarf planet emits X-rays, according to NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The icy dwarf planet's activity amazed scientist because of Pluto's consistency.
Lacking natural magnetism should make it impossible for it to produce radiation. Due to its characteristics, the scientists believe that high-energy particles from solar wind are responsible for these emissions, noting that it's also possible for other KBOs to record the same activity.
