Pluto Surface Observations 3: NH Post-Encounter Phase, 1 Feb 2016- TBD |
Pluto Surface Observations 3: NH Post-Encounter Phase, 1 Feb 2016- TBD |
Jan 30 2016, 07:21 AM
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8785 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
This topic is for all New Horizons Pluto surface observations received after 1 Feb 2016.
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Feb 4 2016, 05:24 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1887 Joined: 20-November 04 From: Iowa Member No.: 110 |
Pluto’s Mysterious, Floating Hills
QUOTE Because water ice is less dense than nitrogen-dominated ice, scientists believe these water ice hills are floating in a sea of frozen nitrogen and move over time like icebergs in Earth’s Arctic Ocean. The hills are likely fragments of the rugged uplands that have broken away and are being carried by the nitrogen glaciers into Sputnik Planum. ‘Chains’ of the drifting hills are formed along the flow paths of the glaciers. When the hills enter the cellular terrain of central Sputnik Planum, they become subject to the convective motions of the nitrogen ice, and are pushed to the edges of the cells, where the hills cluster in groups reaching up to 12 miles (20 kilometers) across.
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Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 25th September 2024 - 08:52 AM |
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