Geology of Pluto

The geology of Pluto consists of the characteristics of the surface, crust, and interior of Pluto. Because of Pluto's distance from Earth, in-depth study from Earth is difficult. Many details about Pluto remained unknown until 14 July 2015, when New Horizons flew through the Pluto system and began transmitting data back to Earth.^[1] When it did, Pluto was found to have remarkable geologic diversity, with New Horizons team member Jeff Moore saying that it "is every bit as complex as that of Mars".^[2] The final New Horizons Pluto data transmission was received on 25 October 2016.^[3]^[4] In June 2020, astronomers reported evidence that Pluto may have had a subsurface ocean, and consequently may have been habitable, when it was first formed.^[5]^[6]

^ Cite error: The named reference NASA-20150115 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "New Pluto images from NASA's New Horizons show complex terrain". Astronomy. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
^ Chang, Kenneth (28 October 2016). "No More Data From Pluto". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
^ "Pluto Exploration Complete: New Horizons Returns Last Bits of 2015 Flyby Data to Earth". Johns Hopkins Applied Research Laboratory. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
^ Rabie, Passant (22 June 2020). "New Evidence Suggests Something Strange and Surprising about Pluto - The findings will make scientists rethink the habitability of Kuiper Belt objects". Inverse. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
^ Bierson, Carver; et al. (22 June 2020). "Evidence for a hot start and early ocean formation on Pluto". Nature Geoscience. 769 (7): 468–472. Bibcode:2020NatGe..13..468B. doi:10.1038/s41561-020-0595-0. S2CID 219976751. Retrieved 23 June 2020.

[NASA-20150115-1] Cite error: The named reference NASA-20150115 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[2] "New Pluto images from NASA's New Horizons show complex terrain". Astronomy. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2018.

[NYT-20161028-3] Chang, Kenneth (28 October 2016). "No More Data From Pluto". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 December 2016.

[4] "Pluto Exploration Complete: New Horizons Returns Last Bits of 2015 Flyby Data to Earth". Johns Hopkins Applied Research Laboratory. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.

[INV-20200622-5] Rabie, Passant (22 June 2020). "New Evidence Suggests Something Strange and Surprising about Pluto - The findings will make scientists rethink the habitability of Kuiper Belt objects". Inverse. Retrieved 23 June 2020.

[NGS-20200622-6] Bierson, Carver; et al. (22 June 2020). "Evidence for a hot start and early ocean formation on Pluto". Nature Geoscience. 769 (7): 468–472. Bibcode:2020NatGe..13..468B. doi:10.1038/s41561-020-0595-0. S2CID 219976751. Retrieved 23 June 2020.

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