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| Pluto (NASA photo) |
Most “dogs” have tails, and Pluto is no different.
In this dwarf planet’s case, the tail is not some wagging appendage, but rather “a frigid cloud of ionized gases trailing an estimated 48,000 to 68,000 miles behind Pluto.”
Business Insider
reports that this trail has been shaped from Pluto’s atmosphere by solar wind. The atmosphere
is easily lured away because the dwarf planet’s gravity is so much less than Earth’s.
This tail, unlike furry ones, is not solid. Neither is it liquid or gas (any longer). It is now plasma, which is thought to be “the most common state of matter in the universe.”
The plasma state can occur when electrons that were previously part of gas particles are now freely circulating.
The free-wheeling electrons within Pluto’s cosmic tail had been discharged from its atmospheric via the bombardment of solar energy.
Resources
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/nasa-just-found-something-big-hiding-out-behind-pluto/ar-AAdaoQp
Copyright July 21, 2015 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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