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The New Horizons spacecraft returned images and compositional data showing that terrains on Pluto span a variety of ages, ranging from relatively ancient, heavily cratered areas to very young surfaces with few-to-no impact craters. One of the regions with very few impact craters is dominated by enormous rises with hummocky flanks. Similar features do not exist anywhere else in the imaged solar system. Here we analyze the geomorphology and composition of the features and conclude this region was resurfaced by cryovolcanic processes, of a type and scale so far unique to Pluto. Creation of this terrain requires multiple eruption sites and a large volume of material (>104 km3) to form what we propose are multiple, several-km-high domes, some of which merge to form more complex planforms. The existence of these massive features suggests Pluto's interior structure and evolution allows for either enhanced retention of heat or more heat overall than was anticipated before New Horizons, which permitted mobilization of water-ice-rich materials late in Pluto's history. Giant icy volcanos (cryovolcanos) on Pluto are unique in the imaged solar system and provide evidence for unexpected, active geology late in Pluto's history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geologic mapping has been used for over 200 years as a technique to synthesize a complicated surface into a more simplified product, identifying similar types of surface features, and placing them into a relative stratigraphy. Geomorphologic mapping has applied those principles to other terrestrial bodies throughout the solar system and has formed an important product set to understand these surfaces, plan future exploration, and conduct different scientific endeavors. We created a geomorphologic map of the New Horizons encounter hemisphere of Pluto's binary companion, Charon. Ten primary geomorphologic unit categories were identified, covering approximately 35% of Charon's surface, and we used lower resolution data to speculate about other regions of Charon. Over 1,000 linear features were mapped, nearly 90% of them are tectonic in nature, and we use these to provide evidence of Charon being active in its past. Additionally, we placed the mapped features into a chronostratigraphic sequence, and we present a possible surface history for the body. The northern terrain typified by large crustal blocks is the oldest, having fractured early in Charon's history, and potentially similar blocks were submerged in a cryoflow of which the now solid surface of Vulcan Planitia is the remnant today. Plain Language Summary: Planetary scientists will create geologic maps of a surface to perform different kinds of studies. Geologic maps identify features of different types and help to distill many different kinds of data into an easier to use format from which scientific investigations can be done. We have created such a map for Pluto's largest companion, Charon, imaged during the flyby of New Horizons in July 2015. This geologic map covers approximately 35% of the best‐imaged region of Charon, and we mapped 16 different geologic units, over 1,000 linear features, and a variety of albedo features. We developed a chronology that places these features in time‐order, and we provide potential interpretations of the different features that we mapped. We found that Charon has potentially one of the most convincing examples of possible large cryoflow(s) of any heretofore imaged body in the solar system. Key Points: We present a new geomorphologic map of New Horizons' encounter hemisphere of Charon, showing units, linear features, and albedo featuresWe introduce a chronostratigraphic system to place features and units in a historic sequence and contextWe interpret units and features in local, regional, and global context, pulling from knowledge of other solar system bodies [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The New Horizons encounter with the cold classical Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69 (informally named “Ultima Thule,” hereafter Ultima) on 1 January 2019 will be the first time a spacecraft has ever closely observed one of the free‐orbiting small denizens of the Kuiper Belt. Related to but not thought to have formed in the same region of the solar system as the comets that been explored so far, it will also be the most distant, and most primitive body yet visited by spacecraft. In this letter we begin with a brief overview of cold classical Kuiper Belt objects, of which Ultima is a prime example. We give a short preview of our encounter plans. We note what is currently known about Ultima from Earth‐based observations. We then review our expectations and capabilities to evaluate Ultima's composition, surface geology, structure, near space environment, small moons, rings, and the search for activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The near-Earth object (NEO) population, which mainly consists of fragments from collisions between asteroids in the main asteroid belt, is thought to include contributions from short-period comets as well. One of the most promising NEO candidates for a cometary origin is near-Earth asteroid (3552) Don Quixote, which has never been reported to show activity. Here we present the discovery of cometary activity in Don Quixote based on thermal-infrared observations made with the Spitzer Space Telescope in its 3.6 and 4.5 μm bands. Our observations clearly show the presence of a coma and a tail in the 4.5 μm but not in the 3.6 μm band, which is consistent with molecular band emission from CO2. Thermal modeling of the combined photometric data on Don Quixote reveals a diameter of 18.4 km and an albedo of , which confirms Don Quixote to be the third-largest known NEO. We derive an upper limit on the dust production rate of 1.9 kg s–1 and derive a CO2 gas production rate of (1.1 ± 0.1) × 1026 molecules s–1. Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph spectroscopic observations indicate the presence of fine-grained silicates, perhaps pyroxene rich, on the surface of Don Quixote. Our discovery suggests that CO2 can be present in near-Earth space over a long time. The presence of CO2 might also explain that Don Quixote's cometary nature remained hidden for nearly three decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reflected spectral energy distribution of low-albedo, red-colored, airless bodies in the outer Solar System (planetary satellites, Centaur objects, Kuiper Belt objects, bare comet nuclei) can be modeled with spectral models that incorporate the optical properties of refractory complex organic materials synthesized in the laboratory and called tholins. These materials are strongly colored and impart their color properties to the models. The colors of the bodies cannot be matched with plausible minerals, ices, or metals. Iapetus, a satellite of Saturn, is one such red-colored body that is well matched with tholin-rich models. Detection of aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons on Iapetus by the Cassini spacecraft, and the presence of these hydrocarbons in the tholins, is taken as evidence for the widespread presence of solid organic complexes aromatic and aliphatic units on many bodies in the outer Solar System. These organic complexes may be compositionally similar to the insoluble organic matter in some classes of the carbonaceous meteorites, and thus may ultimately derive from the organic matter in the interstellar medium. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Division III gathers astronomers engaged in the study of a comprehensive range of phenomena in the solar system and its bodies, from the major planets via comets to meteorites and interplanetary dust. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The origin of Phoebe, which is the outermost large satellite of Saturn, is of particular interest because its inclined, retrograde orbit suggests that it was gravitationally captured by Saturn, having accreted outside the region of the solar nebula in which Saturn formed. By contrast, Saturn's regular satellites (with prograde, low-inclination, circular orbits) probably accreted within the sub-nebula in which Saturn itself formed. Here we report imaging spectroscopy of Phoebe resulting from the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft encounter on 11 June 2004. We mapped ferrous-iron-bearing minerals, bound water, trapped CO2, probable phyllosilicates, organics, nitriles and cyanide compounds. Detection of these compounds on Phoebe makes it one of the most compositionally diverse objects yet observed in our Solar System. It is likely that Phoebe's surface contains primitive materials from the outer Solar System, indicating a surface of cometary origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telescopic data combined with data gathered by spacecraft has brought worlds as distant as Pluto and the Kuiper belt objects under increasingly close scrutiny. Of particular interest here is the progress that has been made in our understanding of the properties of the satellites of the giant planets. As such, the purpose of this chapter is to review the present understanding of the nature of icy surfaces in the outer solar system, the ongoing processes that affect the composition, distribution, and physical state of volatiles on icy surfaces, and new techniques for probing the mysteries of the origin and evolution of icy bodies in the Solar System. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commission 16 held its business meeting during the General Assembly in Prague, on Wednesday August 23, 2006, with nine members present. The meeting was called to order at 14:00 hr by president Guy Consolmagno. A moment of silence was observed in memory of those Commission (or Division) members deceased since the last General Assembly. They are Joseph W. Chamberlain, Michel Festou, Thomas Gold, Cornell H. Mayer, Vasilij I. Moroz, William M. Sinton, Willem Wamsteker, James A. Westphal, and Fred L. Whipple. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The close encounters of the Pluto–Charon system and the Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth (formerly 2014 MU69) by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft in 2015 and 2019, respectively, have given new perspectives on the most distant planetary bodies yet explored. These bodies are key indicators of the composition, chemistry, and dynamics of the outer regions of the Solar System's nascent environment. Pluto and Charon reveal characteristics of the largest Kuiper Belt objects formed in the dynamically evolving solar nebula inward of ~30 AU, while the much smaller Arrokoth is a largely undisturbed relic of accretion at ~45 AU. The surfaces of Pluto and Charon are covered with volatile and refractory ices and organic components, and have been shaped by geological activity. On Pluto, N2, CO and CH4 are exchanged between the atmosphere and surface as gaseous and condensed phases on diurnal, seasonal and longer timescales, while Charon's surface is primarily inert H2O ice with an ammoniated component and a polar region colored with a macromolecular organic deposit. Arrokoth is revealed as a fused binary body in a relatively benign space environment where it originated and has remained for the age of the Solar System. Its surface is a mix of CH3OH ice, a red-orange pigment of presumed complex organic material, and possibly other undetected components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For over three decades tholins have been synthesized from mixtures of the cosmically abundant gases CH4, C2H6, NH3, H2O, HCHO, N2, and H2, previously in the Laboratory for Planetary Studies at Cornell University and in recent years at NASA Ames Research Center. The tholin synthesized by UV light or spark discharge on sequential and non-sequential pyrolysis GC-MS revealed hundreds of compounds, and on hydrolysis produced a large number of amino acids including racemic protein amino acids. Optical constants have been measured of many of the tholins, tholins produced from a condensed mixture of water and ethane at 77 K, poly HCN, and Titan tholin produced on electrical discharge through a mixture of 90% N2 and 10% CH4. Its optical constants were measured from soft x-rays to microwave for the first time.Here we report the absorption properties of Titan tholin that is produced in the temperature range 135 to 178 K where tholins are produced by magnetospheric charged particles, then pass through lower temperature at 70 K and finally to the ground at 95 K. While descending to the ground, it gets coated and processed on the way by other sources of energy such as long UV and cosmic rays. It is therefore expected that the stable products of CH4 photolysis react with Titan tholin to recycle the CH4 supply in Titan's atmosphere. Furthermore, the reactions of gaseous C2H6 with the reactive materials on the surface of the tholin could incorporate atmospheric C2H6 into the tholin and therefore might reduce the deposition rate of C2H6 onto the ground of Titan. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Radiation processing of the surface ices of outer solar system bodies may result in the production of new chemical species even at low temperatures. Many of the smaller, more volatile molecules that are likely produced by the photolysis of these ices have been well characterized by laboratory experiments. However, the more complex refractory material formed in these experiments remains largely uncharacterized. In this work, we present a series of laboratory experiments in which low-temperature (15-20 K) N2:CH4:CO ices in relative proportions 100:1:1 are subjected to UV irradiation, and the resulting materials are studied with a variety of analytical techniques including infrared spectroscopy, X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy, gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, and high-resolution mass spectroscopy. Despite the simplicity of the reactants, these experiments result in the production of a highly complex mixture of molecules from relatively low-mass volatiles (tens of daltons) to high-mass refractory materials (hundreds of daltons). These products include various carboxylic acids, nitriles, and urea, which are also expected to be present on the surface of outer solar system bodies, including Pluto and other transneptunian objects. If these compounds occur in sufficient concentrations in the ices of outer solar system bodies, their characteristic bands may be detectable in the near-infrared spectra of these objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The IAU/IAG Working Group on Cartographic Coordinates & Rotational Elements published its (2006) triennial report containing current recommendations for models for solar system bodies (Seidelmann et al. 2007). P. Kenneth Seidelmann stepped down as chairperson and B. A. Archinal was elected chairperson at the Working Group business meeting that took place at the IAU XXVI General Assembly in Prague in 2006. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Working Group was formed at the request of the Board of DivisionIII and approved by the IAU Executive committee in March 2004. This was in recognition of the fact that discoveries in the Trans Neptunian region were repeatedly raising the question of “what is a planet”. The task of the WG was to investigate the options available and give indications of the level of support and opposition for each if more than one option was emerging. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]