Pluto May Have Started Out Very Hot

Pluto is a cold little world far from us in the outer reaches of our solar system. But researchers believe Pluto may have been born as a much warmer place. They say it may even have sheltered a subsurface or underground ocean – one that still exists today.

A report on Pluto appeared earlier this month in the scientific journal Nature Geosciences. The lead author was Carver Bierson, a planetary scientist at the University of California Santa Cruz.

In the report, researchers pointed to evidence for a "hot start" situation at Pluto's beginning, some 4.5 billion years ago. Their study was based on images of the dwarf planet's surface as well as computer models of the subsurface.

"When Pluto was forming, new material would have been coming in and impacting its surface," Bierson said. "Each impact is like an explosion that would warm the nearby area."

新闻来源：VOA

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