Pluto Tartar Dorsa Regio - strange landscape
There are strange features on the surface of the dwarf planet Pluto - giant needle-like spires up to 500 meters high on the edge of deep depressions. It is in Tartar Dorsa area - "snake skin" landscape, as it was seen from the distance about 35 000 km during New Horizons spacecraft flyby in July 2015.
Similar spires, in much lesser scale though, exist on Earth and named "penitentes". You can see them in Chile's highlands, in Atakama Desert. According to computer modelling, peformed be researchers, led by John Moore from York University, Toronto, for such spires formation atmosphere is necessary. Of course, conditions on Pluto are much different from Earth - low gravity, extremely thin atmosphere and low temperatures - these are reasons for gargantuan sizes. Pluto's penitentes consist of methan and nitrogen ice, which are hard as stone at low temperatures.
Just imagine the same thing, but 500 times higher with charcoal black sky on the background. However, gravity acceleration on Pluto's surface is 617 m/s**2, almost 16 times less than Earth's, co climbing would be much easier.
I found your post very interesting, Busser!
Thanks for sharing.
Upvoted & Followed.
Very nice job here, good explanation for how the massive "penitentes" on pluto might form due to the conditions of the dwarf-planet.
Thank you! Planetology and planetary chemistry are amazing.
Indeed, I hope you will consider writing more things in this same vein if you know of anything! It's fascinating stuff!