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The geology of Pluto consists of the characteristics of the surface, crust, and interior of Pluto. Because of Pluto's distance from Earth, in-depth study from Earth is difficult. Many details about Pluto remained unknown until 14 July 2015, when New Horizons flew through the Pluto system and began transmitting data back to Earth. [1]
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Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest known trans-Neptunian object by volume, by a small margin, but is less massive than Eris.
A map of Pluto showing the names officially approved by the IAU as of 3 February 2021.. This is a list of named geological features on Pluto, identified by scientists working with data from the New Horizons spacecraft.
[39] [40] Like the asteroid belt, it consists mainly of small bodies (remnants from the Solar System's formation) and at least one dwarf planet—Pluto, which may be geologically active. [41] But while the asteroid belt is composed primarily of rock and metal, the Kuiper belt is composed largely of ices, such as methane, ammonia, and water.
The geography of Pluto refers to the study and mapping of physical features across the dwarf planet Pluto. On 14 July 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft became the first spacecraft to fly by Pluto. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] During its brief flyby, New Horizons made detailed geographical measurements and observations of Pluto and its moons .
Pluto is the only trans-Neptunian object with a known atmosphere. [7] Its closest analog is the atmosphere of Triton, although in some aspects it resembles even the atmosphere of Mars. [8] [9] The atmosphere of Pluto has been studied since the 1980s by way of earth-based observation of occultations of stars by Pluto [10] [11] and spectroscopy. [12]
The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet is a book written by the astrophysicist and Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson. The book is about Pluto , which was demoted to the status of dwarf planet in August 2006 by the International Astronomical Union , thereby depriving it of its planet-hood. [ 1 ]