News Planetary Science

Pluto’s heart-shaped basin might not hide an ocean after all

A buried rocky remnant from an impact could explain Sputnik Planitia’s odd location

An image of Pluto's Sputnik Planitia, a large basin likely formed from an impact billions of years ago.

Pluto’s heart-shaped Sputnik Planitia is probably an impact basin that formed billions of years ago. Scientists have proposed that the impactor left behind a dense rocky remnant that has kept the basin from moving toward the poles.

NASA, JHUAPL, SwRI

By Adam Mann

Rather than a vast ocean, Pluto’s heart might be hiding a huge, heavy treasure.