* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Charon

Blobrana · L

Charon Surface details. Photoclinometry

Spoiler

Blobrana · L

This image was taken at 10:30 UTC on July 14, 2015, about 1.5 hours before closest approach to Pluto, from a range of 79,000 kilometers.


Credit: NASA-JHUAPL-SwRI

Blobrana · L

New Horizons Close-Up of Charon's 'Mountain in a Moat'

	The image was taken at 10:30 UTC on July 14, 2015, about 1.5 hours before closest approach to Pluto, from a range of 79,000 kilometers.
Credit: NASA-JHUAPL-SwRI

The image shows an area approximately 300 kilometers from top to bottom, including few visible craters. "The most intriguing feature is a large mountain sitting in a moat." said Jeff Moore with NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, who leads New Horizons Geology, Geophysics and Imaging team.
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Charon's Surprising, Youthful and Varied Terrain

Remarkable new details of Pluto's largest moon Charon are revealed in this image from New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), taken late on July 13, 2015 from a distance of 466,000 kilometers.
A swath of cliffs and troughs stretches about 1,000 kilometers from left to right, suggesting widespread fracturing of Charon's crust, likely a result of internal processes. At upper right, along the moon's curving edge, is a canyon estimated to be 7 to 9 kilometers deep.
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Blobrana · L

The new, close-up image of Charon has revealed a chasm 4-6 miles deep and also further evidence of active resurfacing.