Tag Archive for 'Makemake'

Glein et al. found evidence for hydrothermal or metamorphic activity deep within the icy dwarf planets Eris and Makemake. Image credit: Southwest Research Institute.

Webb Finds Evidence of Hydrothermal Processes in Interiors of Eris and Makemake

Feb 15, 2024 by News Staff

The icy dwarf planets Eris and Makemake have surfaces bearing methane ice of unknown origin. According to an analysis of data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James...

This high-resolution image of Pluto was taken by New Horizons on July 14. Pluto’s surface sports a remarkable range of subtle colors, enhanced in this view to a rainbow of pale blues, yellows, oranges, and deep reds. Many landforms have their own distinct colors, telling a complex geological and climatological story that scientists have only just begun to decode. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

Newborn Pluto Was Hot and Had Subsurface Ocean: Study

Jun 23, 2020 by News Staff

Pluto is thought to possess a subsurface ocean beneath its thick ice shell. It has generally been assumed that the dwarf planet formed out of cold material...

The moons of our Solar System are brimming with unusual landscapes. However, sometimes they look a little more familiar, as in this new radar image from the Cassini orbiter. The image shows dark streaks carved into dunes reminiscent of those we might find on a beach on Earth, or raked with flowing lines in a Japanese Zen garden — but this scene is actually taking place on Saturn’s moon Titan. While our sand is composed of silicates, the ‘sand’ of these alien dunes is formed from grains of organic materials about the same size as particles of our beach sand. The small size and smoothness of these grains means that the flowing lines carved into the dunes show up as dark to the human eye. While previous images have spotted these eerily familiar patterns on Titan's dunes, this new image (colorized) shows them in greater detail. The image was obtained by Cassini's radar mapper on July 10, 2013. The vertical seam near the center is an artifact of radar image data processing. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Sci-News.com.

Researchers Unravel Origin and Chemical Composition of Titan’s Mysterious Dunes

Oct 22, 2019 by News Staff

Vast longitudinal dunes up to 330 feet (100 m) in height in the equatorial deserts of Saturn’s moon Titan are the Solar System’s most monumental surface...

This artist’s concept shows Makemake and its moon, MK 2. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Alex Parker, Southwest Research Institute.

MK 2: Astronomers Discover Tiny Moon Orbiting Makemake

Apr 27, 2016 by News Staff

Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered a tiny, dark moon orbiting the dwarf planet Makemake, one of several dwarf planets...

Makemake Reveals Its Secrets

Nov 22, 2012 by Sergio Prostak

European astronomers have used ESO’s Very Large Telescope, the New Technology Telescope, and TRAPPIST: TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope,...