7 Things We've Learnt About Pluto Since New Horizons

2. It Has Loads Of Types Of Ice

Speaking of ice, Pluto certainly has a lot of it, but not as we Earthlings would know it. In the same way that Eskimos supposedly have lots of words for snow (they don't) and the British have lots of words for rain (they do), a local on Pluto might have hundreds of words for different types of ice. On Pluto, as we know, pretty much everything is solid. That is, in the same way that rock is solid on Earth. It is thought that Pluto is geologically active, but instead of molten rock created under intense pressure like on Earth, Pluto is a kind of "opposite land" where the tectonic plates cruise around on freezing cold flowing solids. There are also a vast array of types of ice, forming the vibrant hues of the surface. The heart shines out with its covering of snowy frozen carbon monoxide, contrasting with the rusty red of water ice, mixed up with those tholins that we mentioned earlier. The various ices might even sublimate in the atmosphere and fall as snow. On Pluto you might go ice climbing on nitrogen or have a snowball fight with methane. Makes our one type of snow look rather boring, doesn't it?