Pluto’s Companion shows Evidence of Geologic Activity

So, what can I say!  Charon is not at all what I expected. Yes, sure, I know it’s an icy world, but this view just blew me away when I saw it earlier today. To paraphrase a famous Star Trek doctor: “It’s NOT dead, Jim!”

So, what do we have here? First, there’s what looks like the mother of all really obvious impact craters! You can’t miss it, but just in case, it’s that round donut shaped region near the bottom.

Then you have what look like chasms, over on the right limb. Project scientists say they’re deeper and bigger than the Grand Canyon!

And, there are hints of other canyons or cracks or something marring the icy surface. Finally, check out that polar cap. It’s dark. What’s THAT all about?

So, now we have this moon of already weird-looking Pluto looking pretty darned strange itself. It’s becoming obvious to scientists that it’s active, especially if you take into account the evidence of faulting and disruption of the surface. That doesn’t happen on a dead world. So, what’s going on? Again, I can’t answer, but I’m really hoping we’re going to hear more about all this when we convene at Johns Hopkins over the next couple of days to hear from the experts.

As I like to say: stay tuned!