Astronomy Picture of the Week – Charon’s Ancient Ocean?


As promised, here’s Charon. I went with this photo because it’s something interesting to think about.

Pluto's 'Hulk-like' Moon Charon: A Possible Ancient Ocean?

Pluto’s ‘Hulk-like’ Moon Charon: A Possible Ancient Ocean?

As always, follow the link above for higher resolutions. Also, here’s the text included at the link:

Images from NASA’s New Horizons mission suggest that Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, once had a subsurface ocean that has long since frozen and expanded, pushing out on the moon’s surface and causing it to stretch and fracture on a massive scale.

The side of Charon viewed by the passing New Horizons spacecraft in July 2015 is characterized by a system of “pull apart” tectonic faults, which are expressed as ridges, scarps and valleys-the latter sometimes reaching more than 4 miles (6.5 kilometers) deep. Charon’s tectonic landscape shows that, somehow, the moon expanded in its past, and –like Bruce Banner tearing his shirt as he becomes the Incredible Hulk — Charon’s surface fractured as it stretched.

Charon’s outer layer is primarily water ice. When the moon was young this layer was warmed by the decay of radioactive elements, as well as Charon’s own internal heat of formation. Scientists say Charon could have been warm enough to cause the water ice to melt deep down, creating a subsurface ocean. But as Charon cooled over time, this ocean would have frozen and expanded (as happens when water freezes), pushing the surface outward and producing the massive chasms we see today.

The top segment focuses on a section of the feature informally named Serenity Chasma, part of a vast equatorial belt of chasms on Charon. In fact, this system of chasms is one of the longest seen anywhere in the solar system, running at least 1,100 miles (about 1,800 kilometers) long and reaching 4.5 miles (7.5 kilometers) deep. By comparison, the Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 kilometers) long and just over a mile (1.6 kilometers) deep.

The lower portion of the image shows color-coded topography of the same scene. Measurements of the shape of this feature tell scientists that Charon’s water-ice layer may have been at least partially liquid in its early history, and has since refrozen.

Comments

  1. StevoR says

    Charon, like the planet it orbits, is one marvellously amazing place :

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asXsLhhBq1s

    I can’t wait till we go there again and learn more. I hope its in my lifetime because I’d love to see it. Still so very much to learn about Charon, Pluto and so very much more. Such surprising wonderful little ice dwarf worlds these are.

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