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Geology of Pluto. 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 ...
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.
Geography of Pluto. 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. [3]
This is a list of named geological features on Pluto, identified by scientists working with data from the New Horizons spacecraft. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially approved the first 14 names on 8 August 2017 (announced 7 September 2017), [1] with additional names following in each subsequent year, but many of the names ...
Sputnik 1 satellite. Sputnik Planitia / ˈspʌtnɪk pləˈnɪʃiə, ˈspʊt -/ (formerly Sputnik Planum) [4] is a large, partially glaciated basin on Pluto. About 1,400 by 1,200 km (870 by 750 mi) in size, [3] Sputnik Planitia is partially submerged in large, bright glaciers of nitrogen ice. Named after Earth's first artificial satellite ...
Pluto, discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930, is an interesting target for planetary exploration, but Pluto presents significant challenges for exploration because of its small mass and great distance from Earth. In 1964, Gary Flandro of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory proposed a mission called Grand Tour, taking advantage of the fact that an ...
Moons of Pluto. The dwarf planet Pluto has five natural satellites. [1] In order of distance from Pluto, they are Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra. [2] Charon, the largest, is mutually tidally locked with Pluto, and is massive enough that Pluto and Charon are sometimes considered a binary dwarf planet.
The region experiences a continuous sunrise and sunset for each and every Pluto rotation period of 6.4 days over a time period of 10 million years. [1] The present-day diurnal climate zone of Pluto spans from 30°N to 30°S, encompassing 50% of the total surface area, due to the current axial tilt of 120°.