Can it be aliens? Sure sounds like aliens-but these strange, sparkling patches over Pluto are actually something different (almost) as mysterious.
NASA's New Horizons snapped this image of sunlight loading through Pluto's haze throughout the spacecraft's close approach on July 14, 2015. Nevertheless as researchers looked deeper at the photo, something emerged: Uh, what's get back weird glowing patch in the upper right side corner?
The glowing patch measures over 10 miles across and hovers in Pluto's lower atmosphere. But if you were hoping we'd found a breeze of some low-flying craft paying a visit to our solar system, get ready for disappointment: Researchers think it's probably a cloud reflecting sunlight.
A cloud remains something very exceptional if it's over Pluto, though. This could be the first cloud spotted in photographs from the newest Horizons take. Models have long advised that conditions on Pluto would be amenable to the formation of methane clouds-this picture appears to give credence to that speculation.