Pluto, unlike other rocky objects of the solar system, there is no craters and mountain ranges. The discovery that astonished the researchers was possible thanks to photographs taken by the New Horizons probe.
The probe New Horizons flew in last Tuesday near the hitherto unexplored dwarf planet Pluto and its satellite Charon. Photos that performed after a few hours reach Earth and amazed the scientists.
In their view, the appearance of the surface of Pluto shows still ongoing geological activity planet. It is located in the so-called. Kuiper Belt and it should be constantly bombarded by circulating in the rocky and icy asteroids.
The relatively smooth surface may mean that Pluto is shaped not by outside forces, but by internal heat – said at a press conference the head of the team of scientists supervising mission, Alan Stern.
Pluto are also high mountains reaching over 3 thousand. meters from the base. Scientists have estimated that they were created in the past 100 million years, ie. They are very young from a geological point of view. Are built of rocks and ice.
EPA / NASA, PAP / EPA
Mountains on the surface of Pluto. Scientists have estimated that they were created in the past 100 million years, ie. They are very young from a geological point of view. Are built of rocks and ice.
Another surprise was the largest satellite of Pluto – Charon, which – as scientists speculated – it is geologically dead. Meanwhile, the probe discovered on the deep ditches, steep cliffs and canyons, with a depth of up to 10 km away. All this shows on the satellite ongoing geological processes.
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