A Search for Temporal Changes on Pluto and Charon
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Triton: Topography and Geology of a Probable Ocean World with Comparison to Pluto and Charon
remote sensing Article Triton: Topography and Geology of a Probable Ocean World with Comparison to Pluto and Charon Paul M. Schenk 1,* , Chloe B. Beddingfield 2,3, Tanguy Bertrand 3, Carver Bierson 4 , Ross Beyer 2,3, Veronica J. Bray 5, Dale Cruikshank 3 , William M. Grundy 6, Candice Hansen 7, Jason Hofgartner 8 , Emily Martin 9, William B. McKinnon 10, Jeffrey M. Moore 3, Stuart Robbins 11 , Kirby D. Runyon 12 , Kelsi N. Singer 11 , John Spencer 11, S. Alan Stern 11 and Ted Stryk 13 1 Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX 77058, USA 2 SETI Institute, Palo Alto, CA 94020, USA; chloe.b.beddingfi[email protected] (C.B.B.); [email protected] (R.B.) 3 NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA; [email protected] (T.B.); [email protected] (D.C.); [email protected] (J.M.M.) 4 School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85202, USA; [email protected] 5 Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85641, USA; [email protected] 6 Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA; [email protected] 7 Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85704, USA; [email protected] 8 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA 91001, USA; [email protected] 9 National Air & Space Museum, Washington, DC 20001, USA; [email protected] 10 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO 63101, USA; [email protected] 11 Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80301, USA; [email protected] (S.R.); [email protected] (K.N.S.); [email protected] (J.S.); [email protected] (S.A.S.) Citation: Schenk, P.M.; Beddingfield, 12 Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20707, USA; [email protected] 13 C.B.; Bertrand, T.; Bierson, C.; Beyer, Humanities Division, Roane State Community College, Harriman, TN 37748, USA; [email protected] R.; Bray, V.J.; Cruikshank, D.; Grundy, * Correspondence: [email protected] W.M.; Hansen, C.; Hofgartner, J.; et al. -
Charon Tectonics
Icarus 287 (2017) 161–174 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Icarus journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/icarus Charon tectonics ∗ Ross A. Beyer a,b, , Francis Nimmo c, William B. McKinnon d, Jeffrey M. Moore b, Richard P. Binzel e, Jack W. Conrad c, Andy Cheng f, K. Ennico b, Tod R. Lauer g, C.B. Olkin h, Stuart Robbins h, Paul Schenk i, Kelsi Singer h, John R. Spencer h, S. Alan Stern h, H.A. Weaver f, L.A. Young h, Amanda M. Zangari h a Sagan Center at the SETI Institute, 189 Berndardo Ave, Mountain View, California 94043, USA b NASA Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, CA 94035-0 0 01, USA c University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA d Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, MO 63130-4899, USA e Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA f Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA g National Optical Astronomy Observatories, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA h Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA i Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX 77058, USA a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: New Horizons images of Pluto’s companion Charon show a variety of terrains that display extensional Received 14 April 2016 tectonic features, with relief surprising for this relatively small world. These features suggest a global ex- Revised 8 December 2016 tensional areal strain of order 1% early in Charon’s history. Such extension is consistent with the presence Accepted 12 December 2016 of an ancient global ocean, now frozen. -
Triton: Fascinating Moon, Likely Ocean World, Compelling Destination!
Triton: Fascinating Moon, Likely Ocean World, Compelling Destination! Candice J. Hansen 626-483-5640 Planetary Science Institute [email protected] Co-authors: Erin Leonard Will Grundy, NAU Amanda Jason Hofgartner, JPL Hendrix Corey Cochran Emily Martin, SI K.-Michael Aye Sarah Moran Karl Mitchell, JPL Ganna Portyankina Jennifer Scully Francis Nimmo, UCSC Tom NordheiM Geoffrey Collins Carol Paty, UOregon Terry Hurford Tilmann Denk James Roberts, JHU/APL Richard Cartwright Alice Lucchetti Kirby Runyon, JHU/APL Mallory Kinczyk Maurizio Pajola Lynnae C. Quick, GSFC Zach Ulibarri Sarah Fagents Paul Schenk, LPI Julie Castillo-Rogez Benoit Noyelles Alan Stern, SwRI Alex Hayes Robert Marcialis Orkan Umurhan, Carly Howett Carly Howett SETI/NASA Rosaly Lopes Marzia Parisi Kurt Retherford Tracy Becker Co-signers: Chuanfei Dong Imke de Pater Patricio Becerra Cesare Grava Cynthia DinWiddie Ross Beyer Steve Vance Bryan Holler Alyssa Rhoden Michael Poston Michelle Kirchoff James Keane Krishan Khurana Mark Gurwell Bonnie Burrati AndreW Annex Tanguy Bertrand Walt Harris Jorge Núñez Gianrico Filacchione Rebecca Schindhelm Mark Sykes Federico Tosi Anne Verbiscer Paolo Tortora Adrienn Luspay-Kuti Simon Porter Adam Masters Racine Swick Chloe Beddingfield Ian Cohen Randy Kirk Marc Neveu Louise Prockter Alfred McEWen Alex Patthoff H. Todd Smith Abigail Rymer Kathy Mandt Tom Stallard Krista Soderlund Sierra Ferguson Leigh Fletcher Linda Spilker Raluca Rufu Yohai Kaspi Sebastian Rodriguez Vishaal Singh Alessandro Migliorini Triton: Fascinating Moon, Likely Ocean World, Compelling Destination! Why Explore Triton? Neptune’s moon Triton has been explored by just one spacecraft, Voyager 2, in 1989. Images revealed a unique geologically young surface with landforms found nowhere else in the solar system [1]. -
Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms
Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms Henrik Hargitai • A´ kos Kereszturi Editors Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms With 1862 Figures and 11 Tables Editors Henrik Hargitai Ákos Kereszturi NASA Ames Research Center/NPP Konkoly Thege Miklos Astronomical Moffett Field, CA, USA Institute, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences Budapest, Hungary ISBN 978-1-4614-3133-6 ISBN 978-1-4614-3134-3 (eBook) ISBN 978-1-4614-3135-0 (print and electronic bundle) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-3134-3 Springer New York Heidelberg Dordrecht London Library of Congress Control Number: 2015934230 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. -
Mass Spectrometry of Atmosphereless Planetary Objects
White Paper for 2009 Planetary Decadal Study Mass Spectrometry of Atmosphereless Planetary Objects Eberhard Grün1,2, Mihaly Horanyi2, Elmar Jessberger3, Sascha Kempf1,4, Harald Krüger5, Frank Postberg1, Ralf Srama1,6, Thomas Stephan7, Zoltan Sternovsky2 1Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany 2LASP, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA 3Institut fuer Planetologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany 4IGEP, Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany 5Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany 6Institut für Raumfahrtsysteme, Universität Stuttgart, Germany 7Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA Contents Mass Spectrometry of Atmosphereless Planetary Objects.......................................................1 Executive Summary............................................................................................................2 Scientific Motivation..........................................................................................................3 Interplanetary Meteoroids and the Zodiacal Dust Cloud..................................................3 Stardust and Interstellar Processes ..................................................................................4 Mercury..........................................................................................................................5 The Moon.......................................................................................................................5 -
Chiron and the Centaurs: Escapees from the Kuiper Belt
NA Chiron and the Centaurs: escapees from the Kuiper belt / / Alan Stern & Humberto Campins The Centaurs--a group of objects orbiting chaotically among the giant planets of our Solar System--appear to be a population transitional in size between typical short-period comets and the large Kuiper-belt objects that orbit beyond Neptune. They promise to reveal much about the origin of and interrelationships between the icy bodies of the outer Solar System. THE outer Solar System has long appeared to be a largely empty candidate source locations for the JFC. One such region is the place, inhabited only by the four giant planets, Pluto and a zone beyond Neptune's orbit (at 30 Au, astronomical units) where transient population of comets. In 1977 however, a faint and nonlinear perturbations by Neptune and the other giant planets enigmatic object--2060 Chiton--was discovered _ moving on a can excite orbital eccentricities on timescales comparable to the moderately inclined, strongly chaotic 51-year orbit which takes it age of the Solar System. Once orbital eccentricities are excited from just inside Saturn's orbit out almost as far as that of Uranus. sufficiently to cause objects to cross Neptune's orbit, a fraction of It was not initially clear from where Chiton originated. these objects become temporarily trapped on Centaur-like orbits Following Chiron's discovery, almost 15 years elapsed before among the giant planets. Other such objects are dynamically other similar objects were discovered; five more have now been transported by subsequent encounters with the other giant planets identifiedL Based on tile detection statistics implied by these onto orbits that pass within 1-2Au of the Sun _, where they discoveries, it has become clear that these objects belong to a generate comae and become easily detectable. -
Neptune and Triton Essential Pieces of the Solar System Puzzle
Planetary and Space Science 104 (2014) 108–121 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Planetary and Space Science journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/pss Neptune and Triton: Essential pieces of the Solar System puzzle A. Masters a,n, N. Achilleos b,c, C.B. Agnor d, S. Campagnola a, S. Charnoz e,f, B. Christophe g, A.J. Coates c,h, L.N. Fletcher i, G.H. Jones c,h, L. Lamy j, F. Marzari k, N. Nettelmann l, J. Ruiz m, R. Ambrosi n, N. Andre o, A. Bhardwaj p, J.J. Fortney l, C.J. Hansen q, R. Helled r, G. Moragas-Klostermeyer s, G. Orton t, L. Ray b,c, S. Reynaud u, N. Sergis v, R. Srama s, M. Volwerk w a Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Chuo-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5210, Japan b Atmospheric Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK c The Centre for Planetary Sciences at UCL/Birkbeck, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK d Astronomy Unit, School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK e Laboratoire AIM, Université Paris Diderot/CEA/CNRS, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France f Institut Universitaire de France, 103 Boulevard Saint Michel, 75005 Paris, France g ONERA – The French Aerospace Lab, 92322 Châtillon, France h Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Department of Space and Climate Physics, University College London, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT, UK i Atmospheric, Oceanic & Planetary Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University -
1 University of Arizona Press Book Chapter in the Pluto System After
University of Arizona Press Book Chapter in The Pluto System After New Horizons Full Citation: Singer, K.N., Greenstreet, S., Schenk, P.M., Robbins, S.J., Bray, V.J., 2021. Pluto and Charon craters and terrain age estimates. In: Stern, S. A., Young, L. A., Moore, J. M., Grundy, W. M., Binzel, R. P., (Eds.), Pluto system after New Horizons. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. doi:10.2458/azu_uapress_9780816540945-ch006 Impact Craters on Pluto and Charon and Terrain Age Estimates K. N. Singer Southwest Research Institute S. Greenstreet University of Washington P. M. Schenk Lunar and Planetary Institute S. J. Robbins Southwest Research Institute V. J. Bray University of Arizona Pluto’s terrains display a diversity of crater retention ages ranging from areas with no identifiable craters to heavily cratered terrains. This variation in crater densities is consistent with geologic activity occurring throughout Pluto’s history and also a variety of resurfacing styles, including both exogenic and endogenic processes. Using estimates of impact flux and cratering rates over time, Pluto’s heavily cratered terrains appear to be relatively ancient, 4 Ga or older. Charon’s smooth plains, informally named Vulcan Planitia, did experience early resurfacing, but there is a relatively high spatial density of craters on Vulcan Planitia and almost all overprint the other types of volcanic or tectonic features. Both Vulcan Planitia and the northern terrains on Charon are also estimated to be ancient, 4 Ga or older. The craters on Pluto and Charon also show a distinct break in their size-frequency distributions (SFDs), where craters smaller than ~10-15 km in diameter have a shallower SFD power-law slope than those larger than this break diameter. -
The Geology of Pluto and Charon Through the Eyes of New Horizons
1 The Geology of Pluto and Charon Through the Eyes of New Horizons Jeffrey M. Moore1*, William B. McKinnon2, John R. Spencer3, Alan D. Howard4, Paul M. Schenk5, Ross A. Beyer6,1, Francis Nimmo7, Kelsi N. Singer3, Orkan M. Umurhan1, Oliver L. White1, S. Alan Stern3, Kimberly Ennico1, Cathy B. Olkin3, Harold A. Weaver8, Leslie A. Young3, Richard P. Binzel9, Marc W. Buie3, Bonnie J. Buratti10, Andrew F. Cheng8, Dale P. Cruikshank1, Will M. Grundy11, Ivan R. Linscott12, Harold J. Reitsema3, Dennis C. Reuter13, Mark R. Showalter6, Veronica J. Bray14, Carrie L. Chavez6,1, Carly J. A. Howett3, Tod R. Lauer15, Carey M. Lisse8, Alex Harrison Parker3, S. B. Porter3, Simon J. Robbins3, Kirby Runyon8, Ted Stryk16, Henry B. Throop17, Constantine C. C. Tsang3, Anne J. Verbiscer18, Amanda M. Zangari3, Andrew L. Chaikin19, Don E. Wilhelms20 1National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center, Space Science Division, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA. 2Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA. 3Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA. 4Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA. 5Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX 77058, USA. 6The SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. 7University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA. 8Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA. 9Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. 10NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91011, USA. 11Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA. 12Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. 13NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA. 14University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. -
2015-07-26 Pluto-Charon-Proposed-Names
Informal Names for Features on Pluto and Charon Body Proposed Theme Feature Type Description Link Name Pluto al-Idrisi Historic Explorers Montes Muhammad al-Idrisi, 1099-1165, explorer http://www.britannica.com/biography/al-Sharif-al-Idrisi (mountains) and skilled mapmaker, whose compendium The Pleasure of Him Who Longs to Cross the Horizons describes regions as far apart as Ireland and China. Pluto Ala Underworld Beings Macula (dark spot) Earth and Underworld goddess of the Igbo http://pantheon.org/articles/a/ala.html people in southeastern Nigeria. Pluto Astrid Space Missions and Colles (small Sweden's first two micro-satellites, http://www.rymdstyrelsen.se/sv/Sverige-i-rymden/Svenska-satelliter/ Spacecraft (Earth- knobs or hills) launched 1995 and 1998. Both studied orbiting) Earth's auroras. Pluto Balrog Underworld Beings Macula (dark spot) Evil, underground creature haunting the [278] - The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, by Robert Foster; Ballantine Mines of Moria in The Lord of the Rings, Books, New York, 1978. See http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Balrogs 1933 novel by J. R. R. Tolkien. Pluto Baré Historic Explorers Montes Jeanne Baré, 1740-1807, French http://www.history.com/news/first-woman-to-circle-the-globe-honored-at- (mountains) naturalist who had to disguise herself as a last man to become the first woman to circumnavigate the Earth. Pluto Beatrice Underworld Travelers Fossa (long, Tour guide through Paradise in Dante’s http://www.britannica.com/biography/Dante-Alighieri/The-Divine-Comedy narrow The Divine Comedy. depression) Pluto Brinton Scientists and Crater Henry Brinton, 1935-2005, US scientist http://www.udel.edu/PR/UDaily/2005/feb/brinton022505.html Engineers and NASA administrator pivotal to funding many early Pluto mission studies. -
Pluto and Charon As Templates for Other Large Transneptunian Objects
Pluto and Charon as Templates for Other Large Transneptunian Objects W. M. Grundy Lowell Observatory Chapter 13 in The Trans-Neptunian Solar System pp. 291-305 Edited by D. Prialnik, M. A. Barucci, and L. A. Young Elsevier (2020) ISBN: 978-0-12-816490-7 DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-816490-7.00013-8 Abstract Exotic landforms are created on Pluto through the action of highly volatile surface materials that can be mobilized by the small amounts of energy available from sunlight and from the decay of radioactive isotopes in Pluto’s core. Although Charon is to small to have retained the volatiles that enable Pluto’s continuing activity, it too was geologically active in the past. The processes that enable activity at the extremely cold temperatures prevalent on small bodies far from the Sun offer lessons for what sorts of processes might once have shaped, or even still be modifying the surfaces of other large, as-yet unexplored transneptunian bodies. Introduction Following its discovery in 1930, Pluto was seen by planetary scientists as a lone oddball, distinct from both the rocky planets and from the giant planets. Imagination of what its geology 1 might be like was initially limited by lack of experience with spacecraft exploration of comparable bodies. The 1989 Voyager II flyby of the Neptune system changed that, providing a key point of reference. Voyager’s instruments revealed Neptune’s largest satellite Triton to be a spectacularly complex world with a wealth of geological features, some of them bearing little resemblance to landforms seen elsewhere in the solar system and some pointing to recent or even ongoing geologic activity (e.g., Smith et al. -
The Geology of Pluto and Charon Revealed by New Horizons
47th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2016) 2440.pdf THE GEOLOGY OF PLUTO AND CHARON REVEALED BY NEW HORIZONS. J. R. Spencer1, J. M. Moore2, W. B. McKinnon3, S. A. Stern1, L. A. Young1, H. A. Weaver4, K. N. Singer1, A. D. Howard5, F. Nimmo6, T. Lauer7, O. L. White2, R. A. Beyer2, C. B. Olkin1, K. Ennico2, and the New Horizons Geology, Geophysics, and Imaging Team, 1Southwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut St. Suite 300, Boulder, CO (spen- [email protected]), 2NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, 3Dept. Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 4 Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, 5Univ. Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, 6U.C. Santa Cruz, CA, 7NOAO, Tucson, AZ. Introduction: The New Horizons spacecraft flew slopes and interconnected, sometimes dendritic, val- past the Pluto system on July 14th 2015, and provided leys (Fig. 2B). The nature of the mantling and erosion our first view of the geology of Pluto and Charon by is mysterious, particularly given Pluto’s current low obtaining hundreds of images, including extensive atmospheric pressure of ~10 µbars which limits the stereo, with hemispheric coverage at best resolution effectiveness of aeolian erosion and sediment 0.47 km/pixel and regional coverage at resolutions transport: perhaps glacial or sub-glacial processes are down to 80 meters/pixel on Pluto (Fig. 1). The best involved. The mantles are unlikely to be primarily imaging covered the anti-Charon hemisphere of Pluto composed of N2 condensed from the atmosphere, and the Pluto-facing hemisphere of Charon, but global which could not support the observed topography [3].