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It wasn't until 2015 that Pluto had high-definition photos.
Scientists have finally taken a picture of Planet Nine, the longest recorded planet, and the scene before them is gloomy: cold and dark, even when the sun is near, it is silent.
Its surface is frozen and surrounded by black holes, as if it is forever isolated at the end of the universe.
On its surface, a substance was found that was different from the surrounding stony surface: it took on the form of a very delicate snail-like object, but there was another speculation about its origin: "Is this a plant?"
1. New Horizons photo.
In 2006, astronomers upgraded Pluto to the ninth planet, but at the time there seemed to be only one reason for Pluto's ninth: Pluto's size.
Prior to this, for hundreds of years, only nine planets were recognized as having both: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
Although the concept of nine planets is ancient, Pluto was still considered a member of the planet until it was discovered that Pluto was actually a dwarf planet: even a dwarf planet inside Neptune, because outside its orbit 40-50 astronomical units from the Sun, it was frozen like other celestial bodies, no different.
So in 2006, after a debate by the International Astronomical Union, Pluto was removed from the planet ranking and reclassified as a "dwarf planet".
Before saying goodbye to the old and ushering in the new, astronomers have decided to give Pluto one last gift, the rover New Horizons.
At that time, New Horizons had been flying away from Earth for many years, and after years of travel and incredible "luck", New Horizons received a "super VIP ticket" after discovering that Pluto was "devalued": the scientists decided to let it go to the "frontier zone" to record everything about Pluto, and then end its mission in this untouched land.
In 2015, its "plan" was finally realized.
The picture of Pluto that people later saw was taken by New Horizons.
That's right, that's all there is to Pluto.
The highest-resolution image of Pluto may have been before, as New Horizons was close to Pluto's orbit at the time, and only half of the planet's surface was illuminated, so only half of the area was photographed.
The New Horizons flew away quickly after passing by, and the speed of the drone made people unable to catch up in an instant, so the New Horizons also quickly left people's field of vision.
It wasn't until 2020 that New Horizons once again brought a little new news to people: a new thing called a "snail-like object" appeared on Pluto, some people suspected that it was an alien creature, and some people suspected that it was a plant, what was going on?
2. The change of seasons on Pluto.
Pluto's orbit is about 248 years, with nearly 20 years of the year being day and the next 20 years being night.
Because Pluto's orbital inclination is very large, at different times, after one "summer" of Pluto has passed, it will undergo a long process of "snow", and it will not be until the next "summer" that Pluto's surface will be covered with white snow.
Pluto's surface area is about 1.79*10^7 square kilometers, which is equivalent to the area of South America, and because Pluto's gravity is relatively small, the transition of water vapor is very frequent in its thin atmosphere.
Because of this, Pluto's surface periodically forms a thick layer of ice, and the surrounding area is quickly covered with a thick layer of snow, and not only that, because Pluto's temperature is very low, so these ice layers also harden gradually, so for decades, Pluto's surface will remain "snowy" until its orbit is warmed by the sun again.
When Pluto is at its hottest, the surface temperature is only -200 degrees Celsius, because Pluto's surface is dominated by water ice, so when the "heat wave" comes, the water ice gradually turns into water vapor.
In addition, there are other substances that will also change: Pluto's interior is not rocky, but the surface of the earth, with a mixture of water ice and gas, which will gradually "melt" in the "heat wave", and the sunlight through the mixture can form interesting chemical reactions, and the matter can undergo hot evaporation and precipitation, and then in the next "summer", they will be able to turn back into snow.
At the same time, Pluto's orbital period around the sun is very long, which also determines that Pluto's climate is "lonely", which is like a giant lonely clock, turning quietly, allowing the climate to change, and Pluto's surface will gradually become unique.
On the surface of Pluto, New Horizons has found many interesting features: the strangest of them is this "snail-like object", and astronomers have put forward a new speculation about its origin.
3. The "snail" that appears on Pluto.
There has been speculation that there may be extraterrestrial creatures on Pluto.
But this speculation was quickly dismissed: first, it is extremely unlikely that Pluto will just emerge into life, and second, the chances of Pluto's climate creating a favorable environment for life are even more slim.
At the same time, there are no "nearby" stars in Pluto and its nearest orbit for life to migrate: even if extraterrestrial life exists, it is impossible to survive here.
There is also speculation that there are plants on Pluto.
This speculation was also refuted, because Pluto's climate and geological structure, as well as from the perspective of the photograph, it is clear that the snail-like object does not correspond to the characteristics of plant growth.
Therefore, the main speculation is that there are two sources of snail-like objects: one is gas, and the other is accumulated through the flow of ice and snow: when Pluto is in the process of "changing seasons", it will produce thin snow, and after the snow falls, it will not only accumulate on the ground, but also carry part of the soil and gas, and pile up together to form a snail-like terrain.
But over time, new photos show that the "snail" on Pluto is showing moving properties.
As a result, astronomers have come up with a new speculation: the water vapor and gas on Pluto's surface interact with the surface after the "change of seasons", especially in the "summer", and finally form a snail-like object.
Pluto, like the earth, has an atmosphere, and when "summer" comes, the water vapor is irradiated by the sunlight and gradually becomes very hot, and then these gases and water vapor become water, and the water vapor and organic matter precipitate together, and will be deposited on the surface of the earth, and when it is deposited, they will sink more and more, and eventually form a snail-like object.
But this guess is not 100% accurate, and there may be a more accurate guess, which requires more scientists to participate and more experiments to prove.
Fourth, the development value of Pluto.
Pluto's distance from the Earth is quite far: Pluto's average diameter is 2,370 kilometers, Earth's is 12,742 kilometers, and Pluto's gravity is 0.063 times that of Earth, so from this point of view, Pluto is not suitable for resource exploitation.
Pluto's climate is also very extreme: Pluto's surface temperature is very low, only a few tens of degrees Celsius, and even in the "summer" it does not exceed 0 degrees Celsius, but it is a temperature of liquid nitrogen, which is not conducive to the habitation and survival of the population.
Pluto also has no value in exploiting resources: Pluto has proven to have a lot of gas on it, and in addition to that, there are certain heavy metals and inorganic salts: from this point of view, Pluto not only has no resources to inhabit it, but also has no resources to exploit.
But one should not give it up: Pluto is a celestial body outside the Earth, and the existence of Pluto provides a lot of reference and experience for exploration beyond the Earth.
Pluto's optical properties are rather peculiar, especially in the process of energy and matter exchange, Pluto reacts very quickly, so Pluto may have some other chemicals and creatures: these are all recorded by New Horizons, so Pluto's matter and life may be a cosmological mystery.
5. Pluto's possible uses.
Pluto may not be of much use in space, but there are still some stony and icy objects in its orbit and dwarf planet belt: these "chokers" still have the potential to drive human civilization in the future, and Pluto may have a new purpose: as a memorial site for future human civilization.
Of course, this is all unknown.
Human beings don't know much about Pluto, but in the future, with the development of science and technology, the upgrade and improvement of detectors, the veil of Pluto will finally be unveiled, and at that time, maybe Pluto will bring people a new surprise.
epilogue
What the snail-like object on Pluto is, it may not be clear, after all, human understanding of Pluto is still very limited, if it is really an alien creature, it will be a shocking discovery, if it is really other natural phenomena, it will also give people a shocking discovery.