late observations of Pluto with NASA ’s Chandra observatory have bring out something surprising . The planet is ring by a curious X - ray radiance , which makes it the uttermost objective in the Solar System with this peculiar characteristic .
Pluto is too cold , diminished , and rough to pass off tenner - rays , so the researchers believe that it ’s the fundamental interaction between the solar wind and the gas break away the midget planet that develop the detect emanation . This unbelievable discovery , release in the journalIcarus , could lead to a completely unlike understanding of the Kuiper Belt , the region of the Solar System beyond Neptune .
" We ’ve just find , for the first time , disco biscuit - rays come from an aim in our Kuiper Belt , and learned that Pluto is interacting with the solar wind in an unexpected and up-and-coming fashion , " read team leader Carey Lisse , from John Hopkins University , in astatement .
" We can expect other large Kuiper Belt object to be doing the same . "
X - rays expelling is not a common occurrence in the universe . It is unremarkably associated with very hot gasoline ( in the million of degrees ) or very up-and-coming event , so the presence of such a glow puzzle some interesting problem .
The fundamental interaction between solar wind and the elude gas pedal from Pluto fits the card , but consort to data from New Horizons , there ’s not enough solar fart there to explain the glow .
Lisse and his team proposed different explanation . Maybe the gas from Pluto ’s aura forms a longer rear behind the gnome satellite than what New Horizons appraise . Or maybe the interplanetary magnetic field is deflecting extra atom onto the region around Pluto .
The discrepancy between Chandra and New Horizons might seem a big problem , but it actually helps to cast a light on the Kuiper Belt .
" When you have a chance at a once in a lifetime flyby like New Horizons at Pluto , you need to point every piece of field glass – every scope on and around Earth – at the mark , " added co - writer Ralph McNutt , also from John Hopkins University .
" The measuring come together and give you a much more complete motion picture you could n’t get at any other meter , from anywhere else . "
Although it has left Pluto behind , New Horizons can still provide data point to solve this whodunit . The spacecraft is en road to anotherKuiper Belt physical object , and it will continue to measure the solar wind properties at the border of the Solar System .
