Iris and Makemake. Dwarf planets in the solar system may have oceans

The solar system contains many moons, and today we know that the chosen natural satellites of Jupiter and Saturn hide subsurface oceans. Enceladus and Europa have it, and there are indications that Mimas does too. It turns out that some dwarf planets in our system may also hold similar surprises.

Iris to Makemake They are two dwarf planets located in the solar system. The first has a diameter of about 2326 km. The second is about 1430 km. Both objects are much farther from the Sun than Earth and orbit it at a distance of tens of astronomical units.

These dwarf planets were observed using the James Webb Space Telescope. The collected data was then subjected to modelling. In this way, scientists found certain signs that indicate its sufficiency Geothermal activity on these worlds would support liquid oceans beneath the surface.

This discovery is linked to methane ice found on the surfaces of dwarf planets. Methane-related thermal processes occur at Iris and Makemake, which is proven by isotope studies. Ultimately, this points to rising temperatures at the core of these worlds. This in turn translates into the possibility of maintaining subsurface liquid oceans. However, there is no certainty that they are actually there.

Eris and Makemake are two dwarf planets that were discovered relatively recently. The first was confirmed in 2005 in images from 2003, and contributed to “removing” Pluto from the status of a regular planet, because it is very similar in size. At the beginning of March 2005, the second of these worlds was discovered.

Both dwarf planets are small and far from us. Therefore, it is difficult to examine it more comprehensively.

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