Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?
declare, if thou hast understanding.
Job 38:4
"Planetary scientists are dumbfounded by more evidence of youth at Pluto, both on the surface and in the atmosphere.The lightest part of the left (west) lobe of the “heart”-shaped light region, named tentatively Tombaugh Regio, appears to be a source of ices that spread over adjacent regions by wind or sublimation, eliminating craters that would otherwise indicate an old surface, although some infilled craters are evident.
Michael Summers relished the new atmospheric image that stunned the science team, showing haze high in the atmosphere backlit by the sun, reaching 100 miles above the surface—five times higher than predicted. The atmosphere shows structure. Stern said that the pressure at the base of the atmosphere is lower than predicted. Summers explained that complex hydrocarbons, like ethylene and acetylene, are produced by solar radiation of methane, producing the red hue of tholins on the surface. He did not explain how much of the material should accumulate over
The team is speculating that Pluto’s atmosphere may be in stages of collapse as the body moves away from the sun after its 1989 perihelion. Perhaps the atmosphere resurrects each orbital lap of 248 earth-years. Even so, during its assumed lifetime of 4.5 billion years, Pluto should have made over 18 million orbits by now.
None of the articles so far are asking where Pluto got its methane. If it were not replenished, it would quickly be depleted (in geologic terms) by solar radiation forming tholins on the surface.
National Geographic’s reporter says, “It’s surprising to see that amount of activity … on such a small world in a part of the solar system where failed planetary building blocks revolve in perpetual dusk.” CEH