NASA's New Horizons finds evidence of liquid nitrogen flowing on Pluto

September 17, 2026 at 09:02 AM1 min

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NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has found evidence that liquid nitrogen may be flowing on Pluto's surface near the northern edge of Sputnik Planitia. The findings, led by Southwest Research Institute, mark the first indication of recent liquid activity on the dwarf planet. The discovery emerged from images taken in 2015 and 2016.

Key Facts

The study was led by Dr. Alan Stern of Southwest Research Institute, principal investigator of the New Horizons mission.
Sputnik Planitia is a nitrogen glacier larger than Texas and Oklahoma combined.
The surface of Sputnik Planitia is probably less than one million years old, according to co-author Dr. Kelsi Singer.
The findings were published in the peer-reviewed Planetary Science Journal.

Evidence of Liquid Flow

Images from New Horizons show dark patches in the northern region of Sputnik Planitia that resemble features on terrestrial glaciers after exposure to liquid. Researchers propose that liquid nitrogen rises through cracks and wets the frozen nitrogen surface. Liquid nitrogen cannot fall as rain on Pluto due to temperature and atmospheric conditions. The dark features may be a new kind of time-variable feature on Pluto, according to Dr. Stern.

Comparison with Greenland

The SwRI-led team compared New Horizons images with NASA Landsat 9 images of Greenland's ice sheet. On Greenland, narrow dark markings appear where liquid water is present on top of ice and snow. Similar patterns on Sputnik Planitia suggest subsurface nitrogen may be wetting the surface.