Pluto’s icy mountains have company. NASA’s New Horizons mission has discovered a new, apparently less lofty mountain range on the lower-left edge of Pluto’s best known feature, the bright, heart-shaped region named Tombaugh Regio (Tombaugh Region).
Posted on 07/21/2015 7:05:27 PM PDT by cripplecreek
Pluto’s icy mountains have company. NASA’s New Horizons mission has discovered a new, apparently less lofty mountain range on the lower-left edge of Pluto’s best known feature, the bright, heart-shaped region named Tombaugh Regio (Tombaugh Region).
These newly-discovered frozen peaks are estimated to be one-half mile to one mile (1-1.5 kilometers) high, about the same height as the United States’ Appalachian Mountains. The Norgay Montes (Norgay Mountains) discovered by New Horizons on July 15 more closely approximate the height of the taller Rocky Mountains.
The new range is just west of the region within Pluto’s heart called Sputnik Planum (Sputnik Plain). The peaks lie some 68 miles (110 kilometers) northwest of Norgay Montes. This newest image further illustrates the remarkably well-defined topography along the western edge of Tombaugh Regio.
(Excerpt) Read more at pluto.jhuapl.edu ...
Well, it is a data rate of something like 100 bits/sec.
New Pluto pic.
Thank you for posting these latest images. I’ve been waiting for updated photos.
Isn’t this whole thing just ‘out of this world’ ?
I’m just glad to see that Pluto isn’t a typical hunk of cold rock.
Two major mysteries to solve.
Pluto and Charon’s crater-free appearance, and Ceres’s bright spots.
bttt
Pics of Nix and Hydra were also posted today.
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Multimedia/Science-Photos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=241
Thanks for posting! Love this stuff!
Thanks cc!
NASA News Conference on the New Horizons Mission [55 mins]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAGwxl7FZWw
Nice! Pink spot on Nix... probably shaped like Elvis, from the “Jailhouse Rock” era...
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Multimedia/Science-Photos/pics/nh-nix-hydra-7-21.jpg
Look at the above picture and you’ll see lots of craters in the dark area, but none in the white area, except in the lower left you’ll see a couple of craters that are filled in by the white material. Pluto is an active planet.
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