Pluto is covered in huge red patches we don’t know what they are
Pluto as seen by New Horizons NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
When NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew past the dwarf planet Pluto in 2015, it found that huge swathes of the surface are covered in a strange red material. Planetary scientists thought they knew the identity of this material, but it turns out their best guess isn’t a good match, leaving it a mystery.
Many assumed that these red patches were made of tholins, organic substances that form in a world’s atmosphere then drift down to the surface. Pluto’s atmosphere, while extremely tenuous, …