Pluto Surface Observations 3: NH Post-Encounter Phase, 1 Feb 2016- TBD Options

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This topic is for all New Horizons Pluto surface observations received after 1 Feb 2016.

[alan]

Pluto’s ‘Snakeskin’ Terrain: Cradle of the Solar System?

If the Tartarus Dorsa bladed region is comprised of methane clathrates, then the next question would be, “how were the clathrates placed there and where did they come from?” Recent detailed studies (see Mousis et al., 2015) strongly suggest that methane clathrates in the icy moons of the outer solar system and also in the Kuiper Belt were formed way back before the solar system formed – i.e., within the protosolar nebula – potentially making them probably some of the oldest materials in our solar system.

Might the material comprising the bladed terrain of Tartarus Dorsa be a record of a time before the solar system ever was? That would be something!

ETA: The LPSC conference coming up next week, I wonder if some new Pluto articles will be showing up in Nature of Science to coincide with this conference.