Pluto’s ice-covered basin, Sputnik Planitia, forms the bright heart shape on the planet’s face NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
Pluto’s heart looks surprisingly fresh, and flowing nitrogen ice may be acting as its fountain of youth.
When NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew past Pluto in 2015, it took the best pictures we’ve ever had of the dwarf planet. They showed that Sputnik Planitia, part of a bright, heart-shaped plain splayed across Pluto’s surface, has no craters.
That was a surprise to planetary scientists, because most bodies in the solar system are thoroughly pock-marked from smaller rocks smashing into them. The…
