Historic image of Pluto, with 10 times the resolution of anything ever seen before...

Last edited Thu Jul 16, 2015, 07:45 AM - Edit history (1)

* Image of Pluto with 10 times the resolution of anything ever seen before has been unveiled by Nasa

* It shows evidence of geological activity, water ice and mountains that formed 100 million years ago

* Nasa also unveiled an image of Charon showing a canyon that's six miles deep, and a new view of Hydra

* New Horizons made its closest approach to Pluto yesterday after 3 billion-mile journey that took 9.5 years

* The probe 'phoned home' last night to let mission control know it had survived its encounter unscathed

The first ever high-resolution image of Pluto has been beamed back to Earth revealing 11,000ft (3,350 metre) mountains made of water ice.

The remarkable image, released alongside new pictures of Pluto's moons Charon and Hydra, provides evidence that geological activity is still taking place on the icy world.

Scientists were shocked to see mountains as high as those in the Rockies that likely formed 100 million years ago - mere youngsters relative to the 4.56-billion-year age of the solar system. Nasa says they may still be in the process of building.

'We now have an isolated small planet that is showing activity after 4.5 billion years,' said Alan Stern, New Horizons' principal investigator. 'It's going to send a lot of geophysicists back to the drawing board.'

'This is one of the youngest surfaces we've ever seen in the solar system,' added Jeff Moore of New Horizons' Geology, Geophysics and Imaging Team (GGI).


The first images of Charon, showing an area called Mordor, the darkest area near the North pole. A swath of cliffs and troughs stretches about 600 miles (1,000km) from left to right, suggesting widespread fracturing of Charon's crust, likely a result of internal processes. At upper right, along the moon's curving edge, is a canyon estimated to be 4 to 6 miles (7 to 9km) deep



Although methane and nitrogen ice covers much of the surface of Pluto, these materials are not strong enough to build the mountains. Instead, a stiffer material, most likely water-ice, created the peaks.

'At Pluto's temperatures, water-ice behaves more like rock,' said deputy GGI lead Bill McKinnon of Washington University, St. Louis.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3162894/11-000-foot-high-mountains-ice-geologically-active-surface-Stunning-image-surface-Pluto-revealed.html

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When I playfully suggested, with an implied wink, that PLUTO's "non-planetary" status needs to be revisited, I was roundly set right (LOL!).
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026975987

So, I'll use the correct terminology and say that this "dwarf", pee-wee planet is one amazing place. ICE MOUNTAINS, shades of Krypton!