You’ve probably seen little holes on the beach, right? Crabs make them to lay their eggs so the baby crabs can dash into the sea as soon as they hatch. It’s nature doing its thing.
Now here’s something wild—NASA spotted similar-looking holes on Pluto. Yes, Pluto, the icy dwarf planet far out in space. These strange patterns were captured by NASA’s New Horizons space probe.
But wait, it gets weirder.
Could There Be Life on Pluto?
NASA found that most of Pluto’s liquid water is hidden beneath its icy surface, and those crab-like structures? They’re in the same spot. Coincidence? Maybe. But it sure makes you wonder—could something be living down there, surviving the extreme cold with hard, protective shells?
No one’s saying space crabs exist… but it sure doesn’t sound impossible anymore.
Poison in the Air — With No Volcanoes?
Another strange thing—NASA noticed that Pluto’s atmosphere is filled with toxic gases, even though there are no active volcanoes. That’s pretty odd, right?
On Earth, we’ve filled our air with pollution through industrial activities. But Pluto? There’s no life as we know it. So where are these gases coming from?
Pluto, it seems, isn’t the frozen, quiet world we once thought.
The Mystery of Arrowkot
Meet Arrowkot, a snowman-shaped asteroid hiding behind Pluto. But NASA doesn’t think it’s just another space rock. They believe it’s a time capsule from the early days of our solar system.
Why? Because it looks nothing like the usual asteroids.
- It’s smooth, not rough.
- It’s red, not gray.
- And instead of breaking apart, it seems to have fused together.
This alone shows that collisions in Pluto’s part of the solar system work differently than closer to the Sun.
Why NASA Launched New Horizons
Before 2006, the best image we had of Pluto was a blurry dot. We honestly knew more about Jupiter’s moons than we did about Pluto.
So in 2006, NASA launched New Horizons to go find answers. Its mission?
- Get close to Pluto
- Send back clear, high-quality images
- Help us finally understand this distant world
After traveling through space for 9 long years, the probe reached Pluto—and what it saw was shocking.
Pluto’s Icy Heart
One of the biggest surprises was a giant heart-shaped region called Sputnik Planum. NASA believes this area formed pretty recently—possibly around the same time humans were evolving on Earth.
And while it looks smooth from a distance, it’s actually covered in polygon-like ice patterns. Weird, right?
These shapes are made by a natural process called sublimation.
What Is Sublimation?
Think of dry ice—it doesn’t melt into a puddle. It goes straight from solid to gas. That’s sublimation.
The same thing happens with Pluto’s nitrogen ice. Over time, it turns directly into gas, reshaping the surface into those funky polygons and crab-hole-like patterns.
A Massive Impact?
Scientists think Pluto may have been hit by a large object around 10 million years ago. But unlike Earth, Pluto is made of nitrogen ice, not water or rock.
So instead of forming a crater filled with water like Earth, Pluto’s crater got filled with nitrogen ice. That ice later sublimated into gas, carving deep patterns in the surface.
This is how many of Pluto’s weird surface features were likely created.
Why Is Charon Turning Red?
Pluto’s moon Charon wasn’t always red. NASA discovered that Pluto’s hydrocarbons like methane and ethane rise up when it gets closer to the Sun. These turn into a reddish compound called tholins, which then drift into space and settle on Charon.
So Pluto is basically coloring its moon red. Fascinating, right?
Gravity Gone Weird
Here’s one more bizarre thing—Pluto’s gravity isn’t even. That’s right. Not its magnetic field or air pressure—its gravity.
Professor Francis Nimmo found cracks and faults on Pluto’s surface near Sputnik Planum, showing imbalances in gravity. If the mass shifts even slightly, it could tilt Pluto even more—and mess with its entire rotation.
There’s even an imaginary line scientists call the tidal axis, which connects Pluto to its moon Charon. If something heavy shifts along that axis, it could literally change Pluto’s spin.
The Deepest Ocean?
Some simulations suggest Pluto might have an underground ocean 10 times deeper than Earth’s Mariana Trench. That’s insanely deep.
And guess what? The key to proving this might lie in Arrowkot, that strange asteroid. NASA believes it could help unlock the full story of Pluto’s past—and maybe even tell us something about how our solar system formed.
Final Thoughts
Pluto isn’t just a frozen rock floating in space. It’s full of surprises—from crab-hole-like structures and sublimating ice to toxic skies and uneven gravity.
Every new image from NASA’s New Horizons mission opens up new mysteries. And we’re only just beginning to understand them.
If you love learning about space, Pluto is definitely a place to keep your eye on. Who knows what other secrets are still buried in that icy heart?