Pluto s Bladed Terrain
Explanation:
Imaged
during the New Horizons spacecraft flyby in July 2015, Pluto's
bladed terrain is captured in this close-up of the distant world.
The bizarre texture
belongs to fields of skyscraper-sized, jagged landforms
made almost entirely of methane ice, found at extreme altitudes
near Pluto's equator.
Casting dramatic shadows,
the tall, knife-like ridges seem to have
been formed by sublimation.
By that process, condensed methane ice turns directly to methane gas
without passing through a liquid phase
during Pluto's warmer geological periods.
On planet Earth, sublimation can also produce standing fields of knife-like
ice sheets, found along the high plateau of the Andes mountain range.
Known as penitentes,
those bladed structures are made of water ice and at most a few meters tall.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
