There are chances of life on Pluto!

NewsBharati    25-Apr-2018
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Washington, April 25: Pluto, known as a dwarf planet and farthest planet from our Earth might have life on that says some of the scientists of Washington University.

The existence of water on Pluto was first brought to our attention by the July 2015 flyby of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, when a supposed subsurface ocean was spotted on the icy dwarf planet. Since then, continuous study of the former ninth planet’s topographical structures has led to even more confirmation that there is, indeed, water on Pluto.

This subsurface ocean, which is said to exist underneath Pluto’s heart-shaped zone called the Sputnik Planitia (or Planum), is part of the area known as the Tombaugh Regio. It’s a 1,000km (621-mile) wide frozen plane composed mostly of nitrogen ice, with some methane and carbon monoxide. Beneath it is the supposed ocean, which according to researcher William McKinnon, is laden with ammonia. McKinnon is a professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University.

Where there is water, there’s a great possibility that life could also exist. In the Sputnik Planitia, despite the presence of ammonia, McKinnon believes it’s possible for life to exist in these frozen waters. “On Earth, microorganisms in the soil fix nitrogen to ammonia, which is important for making DNA and proteins and such,” he said.

But perhaps if water is the basis of finding extraterrestrial life, there are better chances in two of Jupiter’s moons. Titan and Europa both are said to have bodies of water, a primordial ocean of methane for the former and a frozen one containing more water than on Earth for the latter.