The New Horizons Mission: Pluto and the Kuiper Belt Up-Close
Abstract
In July of 2015 the New Horizons spacecraft flew through the Pluto system, initiating humanity's close-up exploration of Kuiper belt objects (Stern et al., 2015, Science). Pluto turned out to be a world of remarkable geologic diversity whose terrains display a range of ages and varied compositions, suggesting geologic activity of various forms (both endogenic and exogenic) has persisted for much of Pluto's history (e.g., Moore et al., 2016, Science). This was a surprise given Pluto's size and lack of recent tidal energy inputs. Many discoveries were also made about Pluto's complex atmosphere, including the existence of many haze layers. Pluto's large moon Charon appears to have had an early large cyrovolcanic resurfacing episode along with large-scale extensional tectonism.
On January 1 of 2019 New Horizons encountered its second target, a cold classical Kuiper belt object approximately 35 km across at 43 AU (Stern et al., 2019, Science). This is the farthest and most primordial planetary body ever explored in detail. Its flattened, snowperson-like shape and unique surface features are helping us learn about the earliest times in the solar system and how planetary bodies formed (Spencer et al., 2019, Science; McKinnon et al., 2019, Science). No satellites or rings were found. MU69's surface has the signature of H2O and CH3OH (methanol) and a very red color, indicative of other organics. This presentation will highlight some of the unique aspects of the Pluto-system, and give an update on the ongoing work to further unveil its secrets. We will also present an overview of what New Horizons is learning about the Kuiper belt as a whole (from Pluto to MU69 to distant KBO observations) and what new information this gives us about planetesimal and planet formation.- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFM.P54B..09S
- Keywords:
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- 6205 Asteroids;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS;
- 6207 Comparative planetology;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS;
- 6211 Centaurs;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS;
- 6224 Kuiper belt objects;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS