P54A-02
Pluto’s Global Color Variability as Seen by the New Horizons Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera
Friday, 18 December 2015: 16:18
2007 (Moscone West)
Richard P Binzel1, Alan Stern2, Harold A Weaver Jr3, Leslie Ann Young4, Catherine Olkin4, William M Grundy5, Alissa M Earle6 and New Horizons Composition Theme Team, (1)MIT Rm 54-410, Cambridge, MA, United States, (2)Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, United States, (3)Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins, Laurel, MD, United States, (4)Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States, (5)Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ, United States, (6)MIT, EAPS, Cambridge, MA, United States
Abstract:
While variability in Pluto’s albedo, color, and methane distribution had been previously discerned from ground-based and Hubble Space Telescope observations [e.g. 1,2], the sharp juxtaposition of contrasting units forms one of the greatest surprises returned (to date) from the New Horizons mission. Here we present a global analysis of the color distribution of Pluto’s surface factoring in both seasonal and large scale geologic processes. We will also explore the possible role of long-term (million year) precession cycles [3] in shaping the surface morphology and the distribution of volatiles. We utilize data returned by the New Horizons Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) operating as part of the Ralph instrument [4]. MVIC captures images over five wavelength bands from blue to the near-infrared, including a broad panchromatic band and a narrow band centered on the 0.89-micron methane absorption feature. References: [1] Young, E. F., Binzel, R. P., Crane, K. 2001; Astron. J. 121, 552-561. [2] Grundy, W.M., Olkin, C.B., Young, L.A., Buie, M. W., Young, E. F. 2013; Icarus 223, 710-721. [3] Earle, A. M., Binzel, R. P. 2015; Icarus 250, 405-412. [4] Reuter, D.C., Stern, S.A., Scherrer, J., et al. 2008; Space Science Reviews, 140, 129-154.
