29:
996:
246:, a generic term for a tar-like mixture of radiation-processed organic compounds. As such, the dark reddish-brown coloration of Mordor Macula is likely caused by tholins as well. However, spectral observations of Charon's north pole is still dominated by signatures of water ice, so the dark deposits must be thin and relatively sparse. This is supported by the inconsistent correlation between the distribution of dark material and local topography, indicating that the material is not a thick and discrete deposit.
223:
345:
Schenk, Paul
Michael; Beyer, Ross A.; McKinnon, William B.; Moore, Jeffrey M.; Spencer, John R.; White, Oliver L.; Singer, Kelsi; Umurhan, Orkan M.; Nimmo, Francis; Lauer, Tod R.; Grundy, William M.; Robbins, Stuart; Stern, S. Alan; Weaver, Harold A.; Young, Leslie A.; Smith, K. Ennico; Olkin, Cathy
234:
The terrain Mordor Macula occupies appears to be rather dramatic, with numerous scarps and irregular depressions. In the direction of the 90°E meridian, Mordor Macula is roughly at the same altitude as Oz Terra. In the direction of the 90°W meridian by contrast, Mordor Macula's terrain gently slopes
213:
on Charon. The floor of
Dorothy is significantly lighter, appearing to carve an arc into the dark core of Mordor Macula. An unnamed ~80 km wide impact crater within Mordor Macula also has a bright floor. Broadly, the distribution of Mordor Macula's dark material seems only loosely influenced by
204:
The boundary of Mordor Macula, though ill-defined, is roughly circular; two major disruptions to this circular boundary are observed, however. One, named McCaffrey Dorsum, is a curvilinear ridge 1–2 kilometers high and stretching between ~150° and ~0°W between 72° and 77°N. McCaffrey Dorsum appears
302:
pumped enough methane into the paleoatmosphere from Charon's subsurface to create Mordor Macula. Methane is first released into the atmosphere via cryovolcanism, where most of the gas migrates to Charon's north and south poles, freezing and becoming trapped there as ice. Some of the gas will reach
286:
event during
Plutonian spring, where methane and other gases from Pluto's surface may escape the planet's gravity and condense onto Charon's surface, an effect called "cold trapping". This hypothesis implies that a similar red spot should exist on Charon's south pole as well—and indirect evidence
205:
to act as a barrier to the spread or distribution of dark material. The pole-facing slopes of the ridge contain some of the darkest terrain observed on Charon, whilst the equator-facing slopes show little deposition of the dark material. The second disruption is
274:, a generic term for a tar-like organic slurry. Despite the fact that during Pluto winter the Northern hemisphere goes without sunlight for more than 100 years, enough radiation makes it to Charon's surface to form the red tholins. The extreme
298:(KBOs) show similar features as Mordor Macula, making the atmospheric transfer model less likely. A second hypothesis of Mordor Macula's origin states that cryovolcanism in
307:
and be lost to space. After a long period of time, solar radiation irradiated the trapped methane ice and produced tholins, creating the dark deposits observed today.
242:
The dark material is reddish-brown in color and has been likened to the dark equatorial belt of Pluto. Pluto's dark equatorial terrain is covered in deposits of
716:
583:
Fayolle, M.; Quirico, E.; Schmitt, B.; et al. (October 2021). "Testing tholins as analogues of the dark reddish material covering Pluto's
Cthulhu region".
530:
Grundy, W. M.; Cruikshank, D. P.; Gladstone, G. R.; et al. (November 2016). "The formation of Charon's red poles from seasonally cold-trapped volatiles".
197:'s north pole. Mordor Macula's dark "core" is roughly 375 kilometers in diameter, though a surrounding lighter halo extends further into the highlands of
1022:
668:
Teolis, Ben; Raut, Ujjwal; Kammer, Joshua A.; Gimar, Caleb J.; Howett, Carly J. A.; Gladstone, G. Randall; Retherford, Kurt D. (28 April 2022).
33:
An enhanced-color image of Mordor Macula on Charon's north pole. The ridge McCaffrey Dorsum curves around the upper center, whilst the crater
235:
downwards to ~2 km below Charon's mean elevation before encountering the McCaffrey Dorsum. Beyond the ridge is a massive deep canyon,
824:
346:(2018). "Breaking up is hard to do: Global cartography and topography of Pluto's mid-sized icy Moon Charon from New Horizons".
857:
645:
316:
270:
and are then deposited into the cold poles of Charon, where scattered ultraviolet light then transforms the molecules into
1099:
239:. Due to Charon's current geological inactivity, Mordor Macula has been relatively unchanged since its formation.
283:
254:
The origin of Mordor Macula is not completely understood. It may be a deposit of frozen gases captured from
817:
619:
485:
951:
206:
34:
618:
Grundy, William M. (1 January 2020). Prialnik, Dina; Barucci, M. Antonietta; Young, Leslie A. (eds.).
669:
995:
506:
717:"Mordor mystery: scientists solve puzzle of the strange, dark north pole on Pluto's moon Charon"
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511:. AGU Fall Meeting 2021, held in New Orleans, LA, 13–17 December 2021, id. P45C-2449.
844:
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201:, beginning to appear north of 45°N and trending darker with increasing latitude.
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743:"Endogenically sourced volatiles on Charon and other Kuiper belt objects"
741:
Menten, Stephanie M.; Sori, Michael M.; Bramson, Ali M. (9 August 2022).
693:
561:
426:
Grundy, W. M.; Binzel, R. P.; Buratti, B. J.; et al. (March 2016).
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279:
670:"Extreme Exospheric Dynamics at Charon: Implications for the Red Spot"
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175:'s largest moon. It is named after the black land called
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258:'s escaping atmosphere. A leading hypothesis is that
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491:. Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. 3 March 2021.
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126:
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120:
117:
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508:A Cryovolcanic Origin for Mordor Macula on Charon
340:
338:
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290:It is also possible that the Mordor Macula has a
163:is the informal name for a large dark area about
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505:Menten, Stephanie; Sori, Michael; Bramson, Ali.
708:
500:
498:
396:
428:"Surface compositions across Pluto and Charon"
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818:
495:
478:
282:of Pluto and Charon's orbits drive a large
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27:
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221:
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317:List of geological features on Charon
715:Rothery, David (14 September 2016).
167:in diameter near the north pole of
13:
638:10.1016/b978-0-12-816490-7.00013-8
14:
1111:
400:; Bonnell, Jerry (17 July 2015).
16:North polar dark region on Charon
994:
621:The Trans-Neptunian Solar System
113:
624:. Elsevier. pp. 291–305.
294:origin. Observations of other
1:
402:"APOD: 2015 July 17 – Charon"
322:
37:is located at the upper right
674:Geophysical Research Letters
605:10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114574
406:Astronomy Picture of the Day
368:10.1016/j.icarus.2018.06.010
226:Mordor Macula is located at
193:Mordor Macula is located at
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7:
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1100:Surface features of Charon
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767:10.1038/s41467-022-31846-8
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463:10.1126/science.aad9189
287:suggests this is true.
1054:Trans-Neptunian object
538:(7627): 65–68 (2016).
231:
747:Nature Communications
486:"Charon Nomenclature"
225:
182:The Lord of the Rings
694:10.1029/2021GL097580
276:orbital eccentricity
209:, the largest-known
179:in J.R.R. Tolkien's
759:2022NatCo..13.4457M
686:2022GeoRL..4997580T
630:2020tnss.book..291G
597:2021Icar..36714574F
562:10.1038/nature19340
554:2016Natur.539...65G
517:2021AGUFM.P45C2449M
454:2016Sci...351.9189G
360:2018Icar..315..124S
296:Kuiper belt objects
23:
268:Pluto's atmosphere
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214:local topography.
21:
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647:978-0-12-816490-7
474:. aad9189 (2016).
438:(6279): aad9189.
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102:Tolkien mythology
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22:Mordor Macula
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1074:In mythology
905:Kubrick Mons
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746:
736:
724:. Retrieved
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651:. Retrieved
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409:. Retrieved
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292:cryovolcanic
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266:escape from
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211:impact basin
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109:
108:
78:New Horizons
76:
43:Feature type
18:
1049:Kuiper belt
753:(1): 4457.
354:: 124–145.
284:sublimation
165:475 km
67:375 km
46:Dark region
1079:In fiction
545:1903.03724
445:1604.05368
323:References
280:axial tilt
88:Unofficial
73:Discoverer
1011:Discovery
1004:Astronomy
962:Nasreddin
898:Mountains
874:Gallifrey
854:Geography
775:2041-1723
702:0094-8276
607:. 114574.
384:125833113
376:0019-1035
303:Charon's
189:Geography
1094:Category
858:features
793:35945207
726:10 April
570:27626378
472:26989260
311:See also
260:nitrogen
199:Oz Terra
96:Land of
62:Diameter
51:Location
1067:Related
1032:General
952:Dorothy
945:Craters
867:Regions
845:Geology
784:9363412
755:Bibcode
682:Bibcode
626:Bibcode
593:Bibcode
550:Bibcode
513:Bibcode
450:Bibcode
432:Science
411:17 July
356:Bibcode
272:tholins
264:methane
244:tholins
218:Geology
207:Dorothy
100:, from
35:Dorothy
977:Ripley
967:Organa
914:Chasms
889:Vulcan
879:Mordor
834:Charon
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585:Icarus
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532:Nature
470:
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348:Icarus
250:Origin
228:Charon
195:Charon
177:Mordor
169:Charon
98:Mordor
93:Eponym
85:Naming
56:Charon
982:Vader
680:(8).
653:9 May
540:arXiv
489:(PDF)
440:arXiv
380:S2CID
256:Pluto
173:Pluto
1023:NOFS
972:Pirx
957:Kirk
789:PMID
771:ISSN
728:2020
698:ISSN
655:2024
642:ISBN
566:PMID
468:PMID
413:2015
372:ISSN
278:and
262:and
779:PMC
763:doi
690:doi
634:doi
601:doi
589:367
558:doi
536:539
458:doi
436:351
364:doi
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