New data shows more water ice on Pluto than earlier thought

New data received by a New Horizon spacecraft has confirmed that there is even more water ice on the surface of planet Pluto than earlier thought.

Data proving the latest findings was derived from observations in infrared light by the Ralph/Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array (LEISA) instrument, which shows where the spectral features of water ice are abundant on Pluto’s surface.

Read also: Evidence of real ninth planet found

This false-colour image which was later discovered to be more water ice is based on two LEISA scans of Pluto obtained on July 14, 2015, from a range of about 67,000 miles (108,000 kilometers).

Taken about 15 minutes apart, the scans were stitched into a combined multi-spectral Pluto “data cube” covering the full hemisphere visible to New Horizons as it flew past Pluto. A data cube like this is a three-dimensional array in which an image of Pluto is formed at each LEISA-sensitive wavelength.

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