Charon has Geysers too |
Charon has Geysers too |
Jul 18 2007, 04:08 PM
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#1
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![]() Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 530 Joined: 24-August 05 Member No.: 471 |
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The only mechanism that explained the data was cryovolcanism, the eruption of liquids and gases in an ultra-cold environment. This action could be occurring on timescales as short as a few hours or days, and at levels that would recoat Charon to a depth of one millimeter every 100,000 years. ---------- - Charon: An Ice Machine in the Ultimate Deep Freeze -------------------- - blue_scape / Nico -
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Jul 19 2007, 01:44 PM
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#2
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 501 Joined: 2-July 05 From: Calgary, Alberta Member No.: 426 |
Hmm. This is interesting.
I wouldn't have thought that something as small as Charon could still have liquid water in its interior. This isn't like Enceladus or Miranda where a big gas-giant planet is available to power tidal heating. Just to speculate: My understanding is that a lot of the Earth's uranium floated to the crustal layer during the planet's formation. You'd expect such a heavy element to sink, but uranium likes to combine chemically with oxygen, and that provides it with a lot of buoyancy. On a body like Charon, though, the uranium would only be able to float to the top of the core -- where it would remain, insulated by a 500-km-deep layer of ice. So should we expect ice/rock bodies like Pluto, Charon and Triton to hold onto their radiothermal heat more efficiently than similarly-sized rocky bodies? (Assuming we could find any similarly sized rocky bodies, of course.) |
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SigurRosFan Charon has Geysers too Jul 18 2007, 04:08 PM
elakdawalla ...I'm working on a story right now...type fas... Jul 18 2007, 04:18 PM
volcanopele Very interesting! Okay...so now I am confused... Jul 18 2007, 05:42 PM
climber We know there are Geysers on Triton, now Charon, s... Jul 18 2007, 06:00 PM
David This is annoying:
QUOTE Charon is the companion w... Jul 18 2007, 08:32 PM
nprev From Emily's excellent article (way to fly tho... Jul 19 2007, 09:48 AM
djellison QUOTE (nprev @ Jul 19 2007, 10:48 AM) nic... Jul 19 2007, 10:26 AM
Littlebit QUOTE (Rob Pinnegar @ Jul 19 2007, 07:44 ... Jul 23 2007, 05:54 PM
Juramike QUOTE (Littlebit @ Jul 23 2007, 01:54 PM)... Jul 25 2007, 02:16 AM
Juramike Wow.
Would this then imply that we might expect a... Jul 19 2007, 01:58 PM
remcook If the surface is covered with fresh ice I can ima... Jul 19 2007, 02:53 PM
marsbug Apart from heat due to radioactive materials, are ... Jul 19 2007, 03:06 PM
Rob Pinnegar QUOTE (marsbug @ Jul 19 2007, 09:06 AM) .... Jul 21 2007, 07:24 PM
Littlebit Charon - the ultimate in fresh powder skiing...or ... Jul 19 2007, 03:07 PM
centsworth_II Or would it be powder cross country, with few slop... Jul 19 2007, 03:13 PM
Juramike A current projected resurfacing rate of 1 mm/1E5 y... Jul 19 2007, 03:18 PM
edstrick So THAT'S where they filmed "Night of the... Jul 24 2007, 06:58 AM
nprev Only if the...er...evidence was the size of rugby ... Jul 25 2007, 12:23 AM![]() ![]() |
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