Chief among Pluto's fascinating — and endearing — features is its bright, white heart full of ice and nitrogen snow. A second study led by University of California at Santa Cruz planetary scientist Francis Nimmo suggests that Sputnik Planitia may be so heavy because an ocean is hiding beneath the planet's icy crust. “We were struck initially that the brightest thing, the most anomalous thing, was at a special location on Pluto,” Keane said. But, as Nimmo put it, “Sputnik Planitia is a hole in the ground. If there is water in Pluto's interior, then it would probably upwell beneath Sputnik Planitia, where the crust is thinner.

Source: Washington Post November 16, 2016 18:15 UTC