Space & Astronomy

New mountain range revealed on Pluto

By T.K. Randall
July 22, 2015

Image: Pluto - New Horizons (2015)
Credit: (PD) NASA It has only been a few days since the first high resolution photographs of Pluto were returned by the spacecraft and already much has been revealed about what lies on this distant, icy world.

Earlier images of mountains comparable in height to the Rockies here on Earth have been joined by further pictures showing a separate chain of peaks similar in size to the Appalachian Mountains.

These remarkable geological features span the edge of Pluto's distinctive 'heart' which has since turned out to be broken up in to several different regions with varying textures and reflectivity.

New Image: Pluto mountain range near Tombaugh Region! See more 2pm ET Fri, July 24 on @NASA TV http://t.co/Ea3AT1AGnm pic.twitter.com/bkS3H0p3Wf

— NASA New Horizons (@NASANewHorizons) July 21, 2015

Scientists are still working to determine the processes responsible for the stark transition between the dark crater-marked region on one side and the smooth frozen plains on the other.

"There is a pronounced difference in texture between the younger, frozen plains to the east and the dark, heavily-cratered terrain to the west," said New Horizons geophysicist Jeff Moore.

"There's a complex interaction going on between the bright and the dark materials that we're still trying to understand."

Source: Washington Post

Tags: Pluto, New Horizons