Monday, April 12, 2021 at 12:40

https://cuboulder.zoom.us/j/96981439846

Kelsi Singer, Southwest Research Institute

"Results from the New Horizons Spacecraft: Constraints on planetesimal formation and evolution from exploring worlds in the distant reaches of our Solar System"

Abstract:

In July of 2015 the New Horizons spacecraft flew through the Pluto system, completing humanity’s reconnaissance of the classical planets. Pluto turned out to be a world of remarkable geologic diversity, and its terrains display a range of ages, suggesting geologic activity of various forms has persisted for much of Pluto’s history. Pluto’s large moon Charon appears to have had an early, large cyrovolcanic resurfacing episode along with large- scale tectonism. The impact craters on these worlds were formed by other Kuiper belt objects ranging in size from a few hundred meters up to 40 km, a size range of objects that is not easily accessible by either space or earth-based telescopes. A surprising result from this new view of Kuiper belt populations was that they may not be in collisional equilibrium, challenging assumptions that the Kuiper belt is similar to the asteroid belt in its evolution.

On January 1st of 2019 New Horizons encountered its second target at 43 AU, a Kuiper belt object called Arrokoth that is ~35 km across. As a cold-classical Kuiper belt object, Arrokoth is the farthest and most primordial planetary body ever explored by a spacecraft. Its snowperson-like shape and unique surface give us insights into processes occurring in the early solar system. The shape, arrangement of the lobes, and lightly cratered surface indicate a relatively benign collisional environment.

The talk will introduce the New Horizons Mission and highlight some of the findings from these unique worlds.

Back to Speakers