In Roman mythology, Pluto is the god and ruler of the dead. For a return mission to the dwarf planet, Howett and her colleagues opted for the name Persephone, after Pluto's wife and "queen of the ...

Traditional views hold that Pluto formed in the cold Kuiper Belt, gradually accumulating ice and rock. Over the long ages, the decay of radioactive elements within the rocks released heat, gradually ...

When the NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft buzzed by Pluto last year, it revealed tantalizing clues that the dwarf planet might have — or had at one time — a liquid ocean sloshing around under its icy ...

At the vast edge of the solar system, Pluto has long been perceived as a cold and lonely dwarf planet. However, a recent ...

Pluto may have been demoted to non-planet status, but it still commands a court of five moons, as is fitting for the king of ...

A new mathematical model provides insights into what may lie under the icy surface of the most famous dwarf planet: Pluto. Sputnik Planitia, the scientific name of its heart, looks dramatically ...

When NASA's New Horizons spacecraft first snapped photos of an unusual heart-shaped scar on Pluto in 2015, the new view bolstered theories that the frigid world harbored an underground ocean.

Ever since NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew by Pluto last year, evidence has been mounting that the dwarf planet may have a liquid ocean beneath its icy shell. Now, by modeling the impact dynamics ...

An ocean of liquid water deep beneath the icy surface of Pluto is coming into focus thanks to new calculations by Alex Nguyen, a graduate student in earth, environmental and planetary sciences in Arts ...

Some scientists also believe there is a liquid ocean beneath Pluto's ice shell that is estimated to be 249 miles thick. But they thought it formed later in Pluto's history as radioactive elements were ...

Pluto has left astronomers puzzled ever since the world was discovered in 1930. And its mysteries only grew in the aftermath of NASA’s New Horizons probe, which cruised by the dwarf planet in 2015.

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