Open AccessTOPOGRAPHIC MAPPING OF PLUTO AND CHARON USING NEW HORIZONS DATA
Author(s) -
P. M. Schenk,
R. A. Beyer,
J. M. Moore,
J. R. Spencer,
W. B. McKin,
A. D. Howard,
O. M. White,
O.M. Umurhan,
K. Singer,
S. A. Stern,
H. A. Weaver,
L. A. Young,
K. Ennico Smith,
C. Olkin
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the international archives of the photogrammetry, remote sensing and spatial information sciences/international archives of the photogrammetry, remote sensing and spatial information sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.264
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1682-1777
pISSN - 1682-1750
DOI - 10.5194/isprsarchives-xli-b4-487-2016
Subject(s) - pluto , impact crater , geology , new horizons , high resolution , astrobiology , geomorphology , astronomy , remote sensing , physics , spacecraft
New Horizons 2015 flyby of the Pluto system has resulted in high-resolution topographic maps of Pluto and Charon, the most distant objects so mapped. DEM’s over ~30% of each object were produced at 100-300 m vertical and 300-800 m spatial resolutions, in hemispheric maps and high-resolution linear mosaics. Both objects reveal more relief than was observed at Triton. The dominant 800-km wide informally named Sputnik Planum bright ice deposit on Pluto lies in a broad depression 3 km deep, flanked by dispersed mountains 3-5 km high. Impact craters reveal a wide variety of preservation states from pristine to eroded, and long fractures are several km deep with throw of 0-2 km. Topography of this magnitude suggests the icy shell of Pluto is relatively cold and rigid. Charon has global relief of at least 10 km, including ridges of 2-3 km and troughs of 3-5 km of relief. Impact craters are up to 6 km deep. Vulcan Planum consists of rolling plains and forms a topographic moat along its edge, suggesting viscous flow.