b. What evidence could you see on, above, or around the rim of a planet, dwarf planet, or moon that would indicate the presence of an atmosphere?

Transcription

1 ASTR& 101 Name: Extra Credit Exercise in Planetary Geology: The Geology of Pluto The New Horizons satellite, launched by NASA in 2006, completed its flyby of Pluto in July of 2014, passing the dwarf of a planet on July 14. New Horizons is a low-budget satellite befitting, perhaps, the dwarf-planet status of Pluto. It will take many months for all the data and pictures, which the satellite measured and took during its flyby and stored in its computer memory, to get sent in packages of data back to us here on Earth via low-energy radio transmissions. But in the meantime, New Horizons has already sent us the first of our first real pictures, our first real look, at Pluto (and also the moons of Pluto, particularly its largest moon, Charon). For this extra credit exercise, you will do your best (and it does not have to be perfect, or all correct) to interpret the geology of Pluto, based on the compiled image NASA put together that shows the surface of nearly half the dwarf planet. 1. a. On the composite image, do you see any evidence of Pluto having an atmosphere? b. What evidence could you see on, above, or around the rim of a planet, dwarf planet, or moon that would indicate the presence of an atmosphere? c. Do you see any of those things you listed in the previous answer, in the image of Pluto? d. In the image shown at do you see any evidence of an atmosphere around Pluto? e. If so, explain how it works, how an atmosphere would produce what you see.

2 2. Impact processes, from meteorites or larger impactors hitting a planet, dwarf planet, asteroid, or comet, results in impact craters, impact basins, and other features. a. Do you see any possible signs of impacts affecting the surface of Pluto, such as possible impact craters? b. If so, circle several of the possible impact craters with a legible pencil or pen and label them IC. 3. a. Do you see any evidence of tectonics on Pluto in the compiled image (the image included with this handout)? b. If so, describe it. If not, describe some tectonic things you might expect to see, but don t see in the image. c. On the composite image that shows nearly half of Pluto, color the tectonic things you see, if you think you see any, red, and label them with the letter T. 4. a. Do you see any volcanoes or evidence of volcanic activity in the image? b. If you think you see any volcanoes or evidence of volcanic activity in the image, describe what you see and explain what makes you think it may be volcanic or may have originated from volcanism. If not, describe what you would expect to see if there were volcanoes or evidence of volcanoes having been active on Pluto, which you do not see in the image. 5. Gradation includes weathering and rusting of rocks, erosion, landslides, streams (rivers, creeks), glaciers, shoreline beach processes, and wind-blown sand dunes. a. Do you see anything in the image of Pluto that you think might originate from gradational processes like any of those listed in the previous sentence? b. If you think you see any gradational processes or features on Pluto that might be indicators of, or results of, gradation, describe what you see and explain what makes you think it may be a result of or indicator of gradation. If not, describe what you would expect to see if there was gradation or results of gradation on Pluto, which you do not see in the image.

3 6. On the image at (see last page of this handout), do you see what may be: i. impact craters?. If so, circle them in colored pen or pencil and label them IC ii. Tectonic features?. If so, circle them in red and label them T. iii. Recently resurfaced or (naturally, geologically) repaved areas?. If so, label some of that area re. iv. Anything that might be volcanic?. If so, label it, or them, with a V. 7. Propose a plausible (reasonable, in line with known processes that might occur on planets, logical) explanation for the origin of the big white area in the composite image showing nearly half of Pluto. Cite well any and all other sources you read or looked at or viewed to gain information from while completing this exercise. Cite the sources here or on another page attached to these pages.

4 Composite image showing nearly half of Pluto.

5 Image copied from