Again, the researchers have an explanation — white nitrogen ice mostly fills the depression. Most of Pluto’s surface is darker methane ice. “This nitrogen most likely accumulated quickly ...

Unlike the water ice on Pluto, methane and nitrogen ice are soft and behave like Silly Putty. They form glaciers that, over the eons, are capable of flowing, oozing and flattening out into plains.

A new model that incorporates data gathered by the JWST could help scientists understand the composition and mass of objects ...

As the oceans are warming, fire-ice is slowly melting and emitting the greenhouse gas methane into the atmosphere. Rising levels of carbon dioxide are famously problematic, but methane is a far ...

Compounds containing hydrogen, such as water, ammonia, and methane ... that distinguish Pluto from the terrestrial and Jovian planets include its composition (ice, rock, and frozen gases ...

The relative quantities of volatile gases like methane and ethane can reveal key details about distant Kuiper Belt objects. A surprising chemical difference between Pluto and Sedna, another dwarf ...