Pluto: NASA Announcing 'Amazing' Discovery (UPDATE)

First Posted: Oct 07, 2015 12:44 PM EDT
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Oct. 8 2:10 PM: NASA has made an announcement regarding Pluto's atmosphere, as well as the presence of water ice on the surface. For more information, click here.

Oct. 8, 11:00 AM: Despite the Internet being abuzz about an announcement from NASA regarding Pluto, it appears Dr. Alan Stern's comments at the University of Alberta were misinterpreted or possibly misquoted.

NASA does have information to release on Thursday, but it may not be "changing everything we know about the solar system," as previously thought.

Stern took to social media to dispel the rumors, and reminded people that NASA releases news and updates every Thursday. (Note: @NewHorizons2015 is not the official Twitter account for the project, but it is the account used by the team working on it.)

NASA has something to tell the world, but it appears that it will most likely not be as groundbreaking and earth-shattering as previously believed. 

Oct. 7: After the most recent round of new high-definition photos of Pluto came in from NASA's New Horizons, the mission's principal investigator, Dr. Alan Stern has announced that NASA will reveal an "amazing" discovery related to the planet on Thursday.

Stern made the announcement while speaking about the latest images from the spacecraft at the University of Alberta, in Canada on Oct. 5.

"NASA won't let me tell you what we're going to tell you on Thursday. It's amazing," Stern said, according to the Independent.

"This world is alive. It has weather, it has hazes in the atmosphere, active geology...Every week I am floored," Stern said, according to the Guardian.

This announcement comes just days after NASA revealed the discovery of flowing water on Mars, and NASA is being similarly secretive about this announcement, with not even a hint as to what it could be.

They admit it could be about some type of planetary stain or a specific type of mineral, but many things are still unknown.

A theory surrounding the announcement on Thursday is the potential discovery of frozen oceans underneath the planetary surface. Theoretically, the water freezing underneath Pluto could shift and crack the land, forming "cold volcanoes" on the planet's surface, according to the Mirror.

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