NASA新视野号探测器在冥王星北半球的斯普特尼克平原发现了液态氮可能流动的首个证据1。由西南研究院首席科学家艾伦·斯特恩领导的研究团队通过对比地球格陵兰冰盖的卫星图像，在冥王星冰面上识别出与液水流动相似的深色纹理特征1。
计算机模拟结果显示，冥王星深层冻氮可能在融化后通过裂隙上升至表面1。斯普特尼克平原的面积超过德州和俄克拉荷马州的合计范围，其表面冰层厚度达几公里，年龄可能少于一百万年1。研究团队认为，液态氮可能在最近的地质时期内流经过冥王星表面1。
斯特恩表示："冥王星永远不会让我们失望，这个新发现确实如此。"1
这项研究基于新视野号在2015-2016年间获取的图像与NASA Landsat 9卫星影像的对比分析1，相关论文已发表于《行星科学期刊》2026年第7卷第7期1。
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has identified the first evidence of liquid nitrogen possibly flowing across Pluto's surface in the Sputnik Planitia region of the dwarf planet's northern hemisphere 1. The discovery, announced on September 17, 2026, suggests that Pluto remains geologically active 1.
Researchers at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), led by principal scientist Alan Stern, made the finding by comparing satellite imagery from New Horizons captured between 2015 and 2016 with NASA's Landsat 9 observations of Earth's Greenland ice sheet 1. The analysis revealed dark textural features on Pluto's icy surface similar to patterns created by liquid water flows on Earth 1. Computer simulations indicate that deeply buried frozen nitrogen on Pluto may have melted and risen to the surface through fissures, indicating geological activity greater than previously understood 1. The Sputnik Planitia region is larger than Texas and Oklahoma combined, with surface ice potentially less than one million years old and extending several kilometers deep 1.
"Pluto never ceases to amaze us, and this discovery certainly demonstrates that," Stern stated regarding the findings 1. The research has been published in the Planetary Science Journal, Volume 7, Issue 7 in 2026, with DOI: 10.3847/PSJ/ae7e85 1.
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