Le montagne di Plutone

Caronte e la prima immagine ad alta risoluzione della superficie di Plutone fotografati dalla sonda New Horizons della NASA.
Due sole foto che aprono scenari inattesi per la geologia del sistema plutoniano.

Icy mountains up to 3,500 metres high -- comparable to Earth's Rocky Mountains -- tower on the dwarf planet Pluto, while its big moon Charon looks shockingly young.

This intriguing geology is revealed by the latest images from NASA's New Horizons mission, captured during its historic trip past Pluto on 14 July and released on 15 July.

Perhaps most surprising is how different Pluto and Charon are from one another, and how geologically active they appear. Pluto's frosty surface is wildly variable, with broad bright swathes, sprawling dark patches, and terrain that appears alternately smooth and beat-up. Charon, its largest moon, is a more muted world, with long canyons girdling its middle. Yet its features still intrigue — among them a dark reddish polar cap that team scientists have dubbed 'Mordor'.