冥王星神秘的“跳动的心脏”控制着这颗行星的风

冥王星神秘的“跳动的心脏”控制着这颗行星的风

There is a debate in the scientific community over whether Pluto should be a planet again. But a new study affirms that the dwarf planet’s “beating heart” is impacting its atmospheric circulation patterns.

科学界对于冥王星是否应该再次成为行星存在着争论。但是一项新的研究证实，这颗矮行星的“跳动的心脏”正在影响它的大气循环模式。

The research notes that the heart-shaped structure, known as Tombaugh Regio, is in charge of the wind patterns on the dwarf planet. Much of it comes from the left part of the structure (known as Sputnik Planitia), which causes nitrogen winds to blow. Nitrogen is the majority of Pluto’s atmosphere, combined with carbon monoxide and methane. During the day, the nitrogen ice warms and turns into vapor, but by night, it condenses and reforms as ice.

研究指出，这颗被称为汤博雷区的心形结构掌管着这颗矮行星上的风型。它的大部分来自结构的左侧(被称为Sputnik Planitia)，这导致氮风吹。氮是冥王星大气的主要成分，与一氧化碳和甲烷结合。白天，氮冰变暖并变成水蒸气，但到了晚上，它就凝结成冰。

“This highlights the fact that Pluto’s atmosphere and winds – even if the density of the atmosphere is very low – can impact the surface,” said the study’s lead author, Tanguy Bertrand, in a statement. The winds also carry heat, particles of haze and grains of ice, the study added.

这项研究的主要作者坦基·伯特兰在一份声明中说:“这突出了一个事实，即冥王星的大气和风——即使大气的密度很低——也会影响冥王星的表面。”研究补充说，风还携带热量、雾霾颗粒和冰粒。

Bertrand and the other researchers looked at the data from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, which discovered the feature in July 2015, to come up with the determination.

2015年7月，美国国家航空航天局(NASA)的“新视野号”(New Horizons)宇宙飞船发现了这一特征。

Pluto has an eastward spin on its axis, but the westward direction of the wind blowing likely suggests that the dwarf planet has a more interesting and diverse terrain than previously thought.

冥王星的轴向东旋转，但向西吹的风可能表明，这颗矮行星的地形比之前认为的更有趣、更多样。

“Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball – completely flat, almost no diversity,” Bertrand added. “But it’s completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what’s going on there.”

伯特兰补充说:“在‘新地平线’之前，所有人都认为冥王星将成为一个无球球体——完全平坦，几乎没有多样性。”“但这是完全不同的。那里有很多不同的景观，我们正试图了解那里的情况。”

Understanding the atmospheric conditions on Sputnik Planitia’s western edge could be as important as understanding the Earth’s oceans, Bertrand continued.

伯特兰接着说，了解斯普特尼克平原西部边缘的大气状况可能与了解地球上的海洋一样重要。

“Sputnik Planitia may be as important for Pluto’s climate as the ocean is for Earth’s climate,” Bertrand continued. “If you remove Sputnik Planitia – if you remove the heart of Pluto – you won’t have the same circulation.”

“斯普特尼克行星对冥王星气候的重要性，可能与海洋对地球气候的重要性不相上下，”伯特兰继续说道。“如果移除斯普特尼克行星——冥王星的心脏——将不会有同样的循环。”

The study has been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.

这项研究发表在《地球物理研究杂志:行星》上。