Pluto’s Smooth Ice Field Possibly Explained By Manhattan-Sized Asteroid Impact

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Why is Sputnik Planum (to the right in this image) so smooth? NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

Another week, another cavalcade of new data from Pluto. And among new images returned by New Horizons, a theory has been proposed for one of the dwarf planet’s strange ice fields – a Manhattan-sized asteroid striking the surface.