Over the years, NASA’s New Horizons probe has been revealing intriguing insights into Pluto, a dwarf planet, as recognized by the International Astronomical Union. The noteworthy finding is that icy lava flows have recently – no more than a billion years ago – covered substantial parts of its surface. This has been captured through the focus on a particular mountainous feature known as Wright Mons. NASA’s New Horizons is the only spacecraft that visited Pluto in July 2015.
Understanding Wright Mons
Named in recognition of the Wright brothers, Wright Mons is a distinctive mountainous entity found on Pluto. Rising 4-5km above its surroundings, it spans roughly 150km across its base and features a central depression or hole that is 40-50km wide and lies at least as low as the surrounding terrain. Scientists have speculated that Wright Mons is a volcano due to the absence of impact craters, suggesting a relatively young age of 1-2 billion years. Its volume is over 20 thousand cubic kilometers, akin to the total volume of Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, which is far larger than the above sea-level portion.
Unique Geographical Features: Hummocks
The landscape around Wright Mons and much of its environs are crowded with mounds, referred to as hummocks, that scale up to 1km high and are mostly 6-12km wide. Primarily constructed of water-ice, these hummocks differ from the nitrogen or methane ice which covers several other young regions on Pluto.
Introduction to Cryovolcanism
The formation of these hummocks is believed to have been forged through a process called cryovolcanism, which involves icy water eruptions instead of molten rock. Pluto’s composition hinting that it hosts rock in its interior, with its exterior laced with a mixture of ices like water, methane, nitrogen and possibly ammonia and carbon monoxide.
Key Facts about Pluto
Pluto was recognized as the ninth planet in the solar system upon discovery by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. However, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefined it as a dwarf planet in 2006 along with Ceres, Makemake and Eris due to the presence of similar-sized bodies in its orbit.
Pluto is smaller than Earth’s Moon, sporting a heart-shaped glacier and blue skies. It has red snow and mountainous terrains as high as the Rockies. With an approximate width of 1400 miles, Pluto completes its orbit around the Sun in 248 Earth years, and a day there lasts about 153 hours or six Earth days.
Pluto’s thin atmosphere comprising of nitrogen, methane and carbon monoxide has a blue tint and distinct layers of haze. Hosting five moons with the largest one, Charon, being so massive that both Pluto and Charon orbit each other like a double planet. With surface temperatures ranging from -228 to -2380C, Pluto is far too cold to sustain life as we know it.
Additional Information
UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Questions (PYQs)
Q. Which one of the following planets has the largest number of natural satellites or moons? (2009)
(a) Jupiter (b) Mars(c) Saturn (d) Venus
Ans: (a) Exp: As of 2009, Jupiter had the largest number of moons.
Q. Which one of the following is a spacecraft? (2008)
(a) Apophis (b) Cassini(c) Spitzer (d) TechSar
Ans: (b) Exp: The Cassini-Huygens space research mission involved collaboration among NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to study the planet Saturn and its system.