Dec. 21, 2011 The new and highly sensitive Cosmic Origins
Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a
strong ultraviolet-wavelength absorber on Pluto's surface,
providing new evidence that points to the possibility of complex
hydrocarbon and/or nitrile molecules lying on the surface,
according to a paper recently published in the Astronomical
Journal by researchers from Southwest Research Institute and
Nebraska Wesleyan University. Such chemical species can be
produced by the interaction of sunlight or cosmic rays with
Pluto's known surface ices, including methane, carbon monoxide
and nitrogen. The project, led by SwRI's Dr. Alan Stern, also
included SwRI researchers Dr. John Spencer and Adam Shinn, and
Nebraska Wesleyan University researchers Dr. Nathaniel
Cunningham and student Mitch Hain. "This is an exciting finding
because complex Plutonian hydrocarbons and other molecules that
could be responsible for the ultraviolet spectral features we
found with Hubble may, among other things, be