Pluto’s mountains are topped with frozen methane, not water ice

[Mike Wehner]

• Images from NASA's New Horizons probe have revealed what appears to be snow-capped peaks on Pluto, but they're not what they seem.
• Researchers suggest that the "snow" is actually methane that condensed and froze on the peaks, making it look like snow.
• Pluto's surface temperature is nearly 400 degrees Fahrenheit below zero.

Ah, Pluto. The once-and-possibly-future planet that sits way out near the edges of our solar system has always been a curiosity for astronomers, and when NASA's New Horizons probe passed by the frosty world back in 2015 it captured some truly stunning images along the way.

Those images have been studied in depth for years now, but they're still revealing secrets about the dwarf planet. Recently, researchers tackled one particularly interesting feature they were able to spot in the images. At first, it appeared as though Pluto was sporting snow-capped mountain peaks akin to Earth, but after doing a bit more digging it quickly became clear that Pluto's peaks aren't frosted with water ice, but something much less pleasant.

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Pluto’s mountains are topped with frozen methane, not water ice originally appeared on BGR.com on Tue, 13 Oct 2020 at 18:33:48 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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