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The geology of Pluto consists of the characteristics of the surface, crust, and interior of Pluto. Because of Pluto's distance from Earth, in-depth study from Earth is difficult. Many details about Pluto remained unknown until 14 July 2015, when New Horizons flew through the Pluto system and began transmitting data back to Earth. [1]
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially approved the first 14 names on 8 August 2017 (announced 7 September 2017), [1] with additional names following in each subsequent year, but many of the names listed on this page are still informal. [2] The IAU has determined that names will be chosen from the following themes: [3] [4]
[11] [12] According to a 2017 study, NASA's New Horizons mission discovered penitentes hundreds of meters high on Pluto, likely composed primarily of methane ice deposited seasonally from Pluto's thin atmosphere. [13] [14] The structures occupy a region named Tartarus Dorsa, a name that was formally accepted by the IAU in August 2017. [15]
Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest known trans-Neptunian object by volume, by a small margin, but is slightly less massive than Eris.
The geography of Pluto refers to the study and mapping of physical features across the dwarf planet Pluto. On 14 July 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft became the first spacecraft to fly by Pluto. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] During its brief flyby, New Horizons made detailed geographical measurements and observations of Pluto and its moons .
Unnamed wrinkle ridges north of the lunar crater Flamsteed, Oceanus Procellarum, from Apollo 12 A wrinkle ridge is a type of feature commonly found on lunar maria , or basalt plains. These features are low, sinuous ridges formed on the mare surface that can extend for up to several hundred kilometers.
[1] [2] Although the geo- prefix typically indicates topics of or relating to Earth, planetary geology is named as such for historical and convenience reasons; due to the types of investigations involved, it is closely linked with Earth-based geology. These investigations are centered around the composition, structure, processes, and history of ...
[1] Since the invention of the telescope, astronomers have given names to the surface features they have discerned, especially on the Moon and Mars. To found an authority on planetary nomenclature, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) was organized in 1919 to designate and standardize names for features on Solar System bodies.