According to NASA’s New Horizons team, the surface of the dwarf planet Pluto varies in age.
Locations of 1,070 craters mapped on Pluto by the New Horizons team indicate a wide range of surface ages, which likely means the dwarf planet has been geologically active throughout its history. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.
To determine the ages of different surface units on Pluto and piece together the dwarf planet’s geologic history, New Horizons researchers count crater impacts.
“The more crater impacts, the older the region likely is,” explained team member Dr Kelsi Singer, of the Southwest Research Institute.
“We use images and topography from New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager and data from the Ralph color/composition instruments,” he said.
To date, the researchers have identified 1,070 craters, which vary greatly in size and appearance.
According to the team, Pluto has regions dating to about 4 billion years ago – just after the formation of Solar System’s planets.
But there also is a vast, crater-free area – Sputnik Planum – that formed within the past ten million years.
Pluto’s craters. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.
“Although both Pluto and Charon have a surprising number of young-looking surfaces, there are still plenty of craters for impact-phenomenon enthusiasts,” Dr Singer said.
“I expect cratering studies like this to give us important new insights into how this part of the Solar System formed,” he added.
Dr Singer and co-authors reported their results November 9 at the 47th Annual Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting in National Harbor, Maryland.
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Kelsi N. Singer et al. 2015. Craters on Pluto and Charon: Characteristics and Impactor Population. 47th Annual Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting. Abstract # 102.02
