Scientists were truly stunned by one of the NASA photographs when they noticed something that by all accounts appeared to be something moving across Pluto's surface.
The image was taken by the space agency's New Horizons probe, first launched in 2006 by the New Frontiers program. On July 14, 2015, it flew just 7,800 miles above Pluto's surface, making it the first spacecraft to explore a dwarf planet, sending multiple images.
The movie, titled NASA Unexplained Files, aired on Discovery Channel, infuriated the scientific community. Astronomer and image analyst Mark D'Antonio reported on the show in 2016:
'The New Horizons probe showed us Pluto, which we have never seen before. We saw incredibly clear images, including this shot, which shows something that looks like a snail. You can see something that looks like a shell and a head, which is really weird. I have to admit, this image looks a lot like a space snail making its way. '
However, the American astronomer Seth Shostak explained why such a find would violate the laws of science. He added:
'Pluto's surface is a terrible place to live, an impossible place. Let's just say that everything in your body will freeze in just a few seconds. And if it wasn't for the skeleton, you would just turn into a small pile. '
However, scientists have proven that even though Pluto is downgraded to the level of a dwarf planet, it is very geologically active below the surface. One area, known as Sputnik Planitia, is covered in 'scars', supposedly created by convection cells in relatively soft nitrogen ice. Astronomer David Aguilar also commented:
“This flat surface on Pluto, called Sputnik Planitia, is a kind of haven for these strange markings we find on the surface. Many people believe that this is a dead world, but it is not. Pluto is essentially the geological world. '
NASA scientists believe that nitrogen has been pushed to the surface for millennia, but because water ice is less dense than frozen nitrogen, huge icebergs form on its surface.
'These lines are nothing more than the edges of convection zones, where warm material rises to the center, then cold material cools down along the edges. The giant snails are probably water ice that will be solid, forming a kind of iceberg on the nitrogen ice. '
