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NASA's New Horizons Focuses On Pluto's Largest Moon Charon
MarkWhittington writes: New Horizons has already discovered much of what was previously unknown about Pluto, the dwarf planet that is the former ninth planet from the sun. NASA reported that the space probe has also uncovered some of the secrets of Pluto's largest moon, Charon. It has found indications of impact craters on the moon's gray surface as well as a chasm that seems to be bigger than the Grand Canyon on Earth. Charon has a diameter of just 1440 miles. By contrast, Earth has a diameter of 7918 miles.
Really it's impressive before you think about it. The Earth has active plate tectonics and ongoing weathering. It should come as no surprise that planets which don't have more pronounced features.
>> Pluto, the dwarf planet that is the former ninth planet from the sun
Thanks for the explanation - as Slashdot readers, we needed it.
Charon has a diameter of just 2317 km. By contrast, Earth has a diameter of 12743 km.
(FTFY - assuming statute miles, not nautical miles.)
I wonder what they have planned for the craft once it passes Pluto.
Really it's impressive before you think about it. The Earth has active plate tectonics and ongoing weathering. It should come as no surprise that planets which don't have more pronounced features.
Also, the Earth has much higher gravity. Surface elevation gradients are much more pronounced on bodies with lower surface gravity, even though they have higher tidal gradients. Mars' largest volcano, Mons Olympus, could not stand on Earth due to the 3x higher gravity here.
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
"has also uncovered some of the secrets of Pluto's largest moon, Charon. It has found indications of impact craters on the moon's gray surface."
Wow! Who would have thought? That's a big secret for sure!
How about a moderation of -1 pedantic.
The rate at which new pictures are being released is very disappointing. It is basically 1 drop per day at pluto.jhuapl.edu and they are routinely 24 hours old. The Charon images are the least interesting of the bunch. However, this is quibbling. Congratulations to the United States for a spectacular conclusion to the preliminary reconnaissance of the solar system which started in 1962 with Mariner 2 at Venus. Without the US there would be no solar system exploration. Our pale blue dot would be benighted by tyranny and socialism.
Actually, some mountains (notably Everest) and the deep sea trenches are there because of plate tectonics, not despite it.
That dog must have really let himself go to have things orbiting him now!
With a chasm that large, it should be easy to see the frozen Mass Relay. C'mon New Horizons, start melting!
That planet doesn't have a thick atmosphere and water to wear down features
The republicans must be conflicted by this. On one hand, their kind loves corporate welfare. On the other, most of them don't believe in other planets.
The center of mass in the Pluto-Charon system lies outside of either body. It's not a moon. They are a double (dwarf) planetary system.
On the other hand, the deeper trenches and higher mountains would also be obliterated due to the tectonics, since there is a lot of motion going on, making and unmaking.
While it doesn't have water near the surface (possibly a fairly deep subsurface ocean), there are liquids that could exist near the surface. The pressure fluctuates wildly, but at today's pressure, it would take about 13 meters of slightly-porous nitrogen ice (more of methane ice) for nitrogen to be able to reach its triple point. That's the equivalent of the weight of less than 1 meter of ice on Earth, so not something abnormally strong or compacted. Additionally, there's all sorts of things that can be liquids at different temperatures and pressures... there could be some rather complicated fluid interactions as depth increase, and they'd change over time.
That's not saying that there are liquids right now - and barring some sort of eutectic effect, I wouldn't expect to see any on the surface due to the low pressure. But there could be something akin to the earth equivalents of sea ice or rivers with frozen surfaces, and not all that deep.
The human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds given adequate vacuuming systems.
It is the other half of a double planetary system. Get your facts straight.
PLUTO has a diameter of 1440 miles.
Charon has a diameter of 790.
-Styopa
Mars' largest volcano, Mons Olympus, could not stand on Earth
Why, would it tip over?
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
It would slump on the sides even more than Olympus Mons on Mars already has. Essentially its flanks would collapse. It's kind of the rock equivalent of piling sand higher and higher until the slope of the side becomes unstable.
Charon is 1,209 km or 751 miles in diameter and Pluto is 2,370 km or 1,472 miles in diameter (almost twice as large).
So, someone gives us a relative measurement and you start moaning about tectonics and weathering?
Give me a fucking break.
The point of the relative measurement was so that we could have some idea of how big it actually is. Seriously, stop being such a juvenile pedant.
Sirius had nothing whatsoever to do with the Voyager missions - it was all XM Radio! That's why Sirius failed. They were too busy faking the moon landing while XM was exploring the Galaxy! Turn in your geek card! LUSER!
Mercury has to be an Orc planet of course.