Wright Mons in Color
Explanation:
Informally named Wright Mons, a broad mountain about
150 kilometers across and 4 kilometers high with
a wide, deep summit depression is featured in
this inset image
captured during the New Horizons flyby of Pluto in July 2015.
Of course, broad mountains with summit craters are found
elsewhere in the Solar System, like the large shield volcano
Mauna Loa on planet Earth or giant
Olympus Mons on Mars.
New Horizons scientists note the striking similarity of
Pluto's Wright Mons, and
nearby Piccard Mons, to large shield volcanoes suggests
the two could be giant cryovolcanoes that once erupted
molten ice from the interior of the cold, distant world.
In fact, found on a frozen dwarf planet Wright Mons
could be the largest volcano in the outer Solar System.
Since only one impact crater has been identified on its slopes,
Wright Mons may well have been active late in Pluto's history.
This
highest resolution
color image also reveals red material sparsely scattered around the region.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
