The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences (Jun 2016)

TOPOGRAPHIC MAPPING OF PLUTO AND CHARON USING NEW HORIZONS DATA

  • P. M. Schenk,
  • R. A. Beyer,
  • J. M. Moore,
  • J. R. Spencer,
  • W. B. McKinnon,
  • A. D. Howard,
  • O. M. White,
  • O. M. Umurhan,
  • K. Singer,
  • S. A. Stern,
  • H. A. Weaver,
  • L. A. Young,
  • K. Ennico Smith,
  • C. Olkin,
  • New Horizons Geology and Geophysics Imaging Team

DOI
https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLI-B4-487-2016
Journal volume & issue
Vol. XLI-B4
pp. 487 – 489

Abstract

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New Horizons 2015 flyby of the Pluto system has resulted in high-resolution topographic maps of Pluto and Charon, the most distant objects so mapped. DEM’s over ~30% of each object were produced at 100-300 m vertical and 300-800 m spatial resolutions, in hemispheric maps and high-resolution linear mosaics. Both objects reveal more relief than was observed at Triton. The dominant 800-km wide informally named Sputnik Planum bright ice deposit on Pluto lies in a broad depression 3 km deep, flanked by dispersed mountains 3-5 km high. Impact craters reveal a wide variety of preservation states from pristine to eroded, and long fractures are several km deep with throw of 0-2 km. Topography of this magnitude suggests the icy shell of Pluto is relatively cold and rigid. Charon has global relief of at least 10 km, including ridges of 2-3 km and troughs of 3-5 km of relief. Impact craters are up to 6 km deep. Vulcan Planum consists of rolling plains and forms a topographic moat along its edge, suggesting viscous flow.