The heart of Pluto is home to a previously unknown mountain range, according to findings from the New Horizons spacecraft. This is the second range of mountains discovered on the frozen dwarf planet.
The Tombaugh Regio (Tombaugh Region), an informal name for the heart-shaped feature on the surface of the world, was revealed just days before New Horizons made its closest approach. The string of peaks is located in the lower left of the region. The previously discovered mountain range, the Norgay Montes (Norgay Mountains) also lies within that region, nestled between icy plains and heavily cratered darker terrain.
"These newly discovered frozen peaks are estimated to be one-half mile to one mile (1-1.5 kilometers) high, about the same height as the United States' Appalachian Mountains. The Norgay Montes (Norgay Mountains) discovered by New Horizons on July 15 more closely approximate the height of the taller Rocky Mountains," NASA reports on its website.
The smaller mountain range lies roughly 68 miles northwest of its larger companion. The area is exciting geologists who are piecing together processes that may be happening along the interface between light and dark material. Researchers believe the darker material is extremely old — forming billions of years in the past. Lighter rock is likely much younger, less than one hundred million years old, researchers speculate. Brightly colored material seen in this image appears to be filling in craters, forming smooth, circular features.
"There is a pronounced difference in texture between the younger, frozen plains to the east and the dark, heavily cratered terrain to the west. There's a complex interaction going on between the bright and the dark materials that we're still trying to understand," said Jeff Moore, New Horizons Geology, Geophysics and Imaging Team (GGI) leader at NASA's Ames Research Center.
The New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (Lorri) was utilized to create the new image. These icy mountains were photographed on July 14, when just 48,000 miles separated the spacecraft and its primary target. The smallest details visible in the image, which was sent to Earth on July 20, are around half a mile across.
New Horizons was the first spacecraft from Earth ever to visit Pluto. The mission revealed a weather of unexpected discoveries on the dwarf planet and its largest moon, Charon. With the exception of a minor computer glitch in the days leading to the encounter, the flyby went as planned. After flying nine and a half years to Pluto, the trailblazing spacecraft may last long enough to explore a second member of the Kuiper Belt of objects.
