The Pluto X-ray Mystery

Apparently the Deep Space Horizons spacecraft made a surprising discovery when it flew by Pluto in 2015.

X-rays are streaming away from Pluto even though there is no apparent way for the planet to do so. Pluto has no measurable magnetic field and has a very small atmosphere which is not the most favorable conditions leaving scientists puzzled.

“It’s a very puzzling finding,” says Konrad Dennerl, an astrophysicist at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany. “I’m not fully convinced,” he adds. “It’s a very low signal.”

Even though the signal isn’t strong scientists believe it is strong enough to warrant further investigation by utilizing the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton satellite which is another X-ray observatory.