Evidence of liquid nitrogen on Pluto in NASA New Horizons images
Mark WillardAda Wood
ByMark WillardandAda Wood
August 29, 2026Updated: August 29, 2026, 8:08 am EDTPublished: August 28, 2026, 11:12 am EDT

New analysis of images from NASA's 2015 New Horizons encounter with Pluto has turned up evidence of recent liquid nitrogen there. Because atmospheric and thermal conditions there make liquid nitrogen rain physically impossible, the liquid may instead be melting and rising from underground reservoirs beneath the surface. That would make the dwarf planet more geologically active than previously assumed.

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