Showing posts with label plutography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plutography. Show all posts

Friday, June 15, 2018

New Horizons Found Evidence of Sand Dunes Made of Methane on Pluto

Scientists say they have found evidence of dunes of frozen methane on Pluto.

The research, which is published in the journal Science, suggests that the distant world is more dynamic than previously thought.

Pluto's atmosphere was believed to be too thin to create the features familiar in deserts on Earth.

The findings come from analysis of the startling images sent back by Nasa's New Horizons mission, which flew close to Pluto in July 2015.

After an epic trek through the Solar System that took nearly a decade, New Horizons sped by at a speed of 58,536 km/h (36,373 mph), gathering data as it passed.

In their study, the researchers explain how they studied pictures of a plain known as Sputnik Planitia, parts of which are covered with what look like fields of dunes.

They are lying close to a range of mountains of water ice 5km high.

The scientists conclude that the dunes are 0.4-1km apart and that they are made up of particles of methane ice between 200-300 micrometers in diameter - roughly the size of grains of sand.



Monday, November 09, 2015

New Exciting Results From Pluto



  1. There are two icy calderas near Pluto's south pole.  These would be the first ice volcanoes seen.
  2. The mountains on Pluto appear to mimic icebergs rather than mountains on Earth.
  3. Pluto, too, seems to have a subterranean ocean.
  4. Pluto's atmosphere is completely different than we anticipated, including hydrogen cyanide. 
  5. Pluto's lesser Moons are very different than expected.  There appear to have been another two more moons in the past.
link.

Friday, November 06, 2015

New Horizons Initial Results

The Pluto system: Initial results from its exploration by New Horizons

Authors:

Stern et al

Abstract:

The Pluto system was recently explored by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, making closest approach on 14 July 2015. Pluto's surface displays diverse landforms, terrain ages, albedos, colors, and composition gradients. Evidence is found for a water-ice crust, geologically young surface units, surface ice convection, wind streaks, volatile transport, and glacial flow. Pluto's atmosphere is highly extended, with trace hydrocarbons, a global haze layer, and a surface pressure near 10 microbars. Pluto's diverse surface geology and long-term activity raise fundamental questions about how small planets remain active many billions of years after formation. Pluto's large moon Charon displays tectonics and evidence for a heterogeneous crustal composition, its north pole displays puzzling dark terrain. Small satellites Hydra and Nix have higher albedos than expected.