{"id":19463,"date":"2016-02-12T20:29:31","date_gmt":"2016-02-12T12:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/scientists-dissect-plutos-heart-for-geologys-sake\/"},"modified":"2016-02-12T20:29:31","modified_gmt":"2016-02-12T12:29:31","slug":"scientists-dissect-plutos-heart-for-geologys-sake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/scientists-dissect-plutos-heart-for-geologys-sake\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists dissect Pluto\u2019s heart, for geology\u2019s sake"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Pluto
This map of the left side of Pluto\u2019s heart-shaped feature uses colors to represent Pluto\u2019s varied terrains, which helps scientists understand the complex geological processes at work. (Credit: NASA \/ JHUAPL \/ SwRI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just in time for Valentine\u2019s Day, the scientists behind NASA\u2019s New Horizons mission are sharing a map that brings a different perspective to Pluto\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n

The map shows clearly that the dwarf planet\u2019s bright heart-shaped region, informally known as Tombaugh Regio, can be broken into two geologically distinct areas.<\/p>\n

\"pluto\"
\nScience journalist Alan Boyle<\/strong> is the author of “The Case for Pluto: How a Little Planet Made A Big Difference.”<\/p>\n

The left side is dominated by an icy plain of frozen nitrogen, called Sputnik Planum. This is the part of the heart that\u2019s dissected in the New Horizons team\u2019s color-coded chart.<\/p>\n

The map covers an area that measures 1,290 miles from top to bottom, which is roughly the width of the United States from north to south. You can see how Sputnik Planum\u2019s ice is broken up into cells (shown in shades of light blue and green) that are bordered by troughs (shown as black lines).<\/p>\n

The purple blotches indicate the mountain ranges that line Sputnik Planum\u2019s western border. The rugged highlands known as Cthulhu Regio are mapped in dark brown. The pink spots mark the scattered, floating hills at the plain\u2019s eastern edge.<\/p>\n

Way down south, there\u2019s a valentine-red blotch that represents Wright Mons, which is thought to be an ice volcano. To the east, you can see the highlands of Tombaugh Regio in orange-brown.<\/p>\n

\"Map
Scientists use 29 different colors in a map of Sputnik Planum on Pluto. (Credit: NASA \/ JHUAPL \/ SwRI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The map is designed to help New Horizons\u2019 scientists figure out the chronology behind the heart\u2019s geology.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy studying how the boundaries between units crosscut one another, mission scientists can determine which units overlie others, and assemble a relative chronology for the different units,\u201d the science team explains in Thursday\u2019s image advisory. \u201cFor example, the yellow craters (at left, on the western edge of the map) must have formed after their surrounding terrain.\u201d<\/p>\n

The color-coded view was generated using images that were obtained by New Horizons\u2019 LORRI imager about an hour and 40 minutes before New Horizons\u2019 closest approach on July 14, when the spacecraft was 48,000 miles away.<\/p>\n

Does this version of the heart look too clinical for Valentine\u2019s Day? If so, feel free to feast your eyes on NASA\u2019s happy-face Pluto valentine instead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This map of the left side of Pluto\u2019s heart-shaped feature uses colors to represent Pluto\u2019s varied terrains, which helps scientists understand the complex geological processes at work. (Credit: NASA \/ JHUAPL \/ SwRI) Just in time for Valentine\u2019s Day, the scientists behind NASA\u2019s New Horizons mission are sharing a map that brings a different perspective to Pluto\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4809,2174,2848],"class_list":["post-19463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-nasa-new-horizons","tag-new-horizons","tag-pluto"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19463"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19463\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}