Pluto

=**PLUTO: **= Although Pluto’s composition is unknown, its density indicates that it is a mixture of 70% rock and 30% water. Bright areas of the surface appear to be covered with ices of nitrogen and smaller amounts of methane, ethane, and carbon monoxide. Darker areas on Pluto’s surface are unknown; it is suspected that this is due to primordial organic material or photochemical reactions developed by cosmic rays. // // //Basics: //
 * -Pluto is almost completely composed of ice.
 * -Pluto has a mean radius of 715 miles (1,151 kilometers) and a surface area of 1.67 x 107 square kilometers.
 * -Density: 2 gm/cm3
 * -Orbit: 5,913,520,000 km (39.5 AU) from the Sun (average)
 * The surface area of Pluto varies between about -235 and -210 C (38 to 63 K). The "warmer" regions roughly correspond to the regions that appear darker in optical wavelengths.
 * Pluto cannot support life due to its extremely cold temperatures and frozen atmosphere. With temperatures close to -380 degrees Fahrenheit and a core encased in a thick mantle of ice, Pluto is currently incapable of nurturing even the simplest of bacteria. Astro[[image:https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/NLcJAfcBVbW0Lo33PMKWqAU9zP6nAIm_gq4V5BBWMyirLNH31WpD0AsQfJnPUMEloXRjbDtpS0LvtVHiesROoSG1bSAU_LzPM_Ws8wPpbeq0Yv9IIuzbmPvD width="493" height="327" align="right"]]nomers speculate that millions of years from now, when the Sun swells in size and becomes a red giant star, the additional heat provided by the Sun's unstable core may provide Pluto with the elements necessary to give rise to life forms.
 *  Pluto’s geologic history may have included periods of internal expansion and/or contraction, perhaps due to a build-up of heat from radiogenic sources, the freeze-expansion of a large internal H2O layer, or changes in ice phases. Periods of Global internal expansion may have manifested itself on Pluto’s surface causing it to split into a scrap or graben-bounded polygons. Global compression is also expected to form a network of thrust fault ridges. Orbital evolution also may have left tectonic imprints.
 *  Pluto’s geologic history may have included periods of internal expansion and/or contraction, perhaps due to a build-up of heat from radiogenic sources, the freeze-expansion of a large internal H2O layer, or changes in ice phases. Periods of Global internal expansion may have manifested itself on Pluto’s surface causing it to split into a scrap or graben-bounded polygons. Global compression is also expected to form a network of thrust fault ridges. Orbital evolution also may have left tectonic imprints.

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=CHARON (Pluto's moon):= ==
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Composition (external and internal): water-ice, it has a crust, mantle and core.. Ar, He, Na, K, H, Rn.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Size: 9.6 x 10 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super;">-10
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Density: 1.2 to 1.3 g/cm <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super;">3
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Orbit: 6.387 days (6 days, 9 hours, 17 minutes)
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Surface features: Water, ice, oceans.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Tectonic activity, if any: Scientists believe that tectonic activity is not occurring on the moon. This is because the moon lacks radioactive decay. The moon is not constantly supplied heat and energy from decaying unstable isotopes like Earth. Also, Earth is heated by the original heat during its formation. Since the moon was most likely broken off from earth, it lacks this central heat.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Surface temperature: -220 c
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Suitability for life: too cold for people to live on.

=<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Works Cited =

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Can Pluto Support Life? | Sophisticated Edge." Sophisticated Edge | How-To | Professionally Researched Answers. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. < [|__http://www.sophisticatededge.com/can-pluto-support-life.html__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">>.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"PlutoÂ lÂ Pluto facts, pictures and information.." The Nine Planets Solar System Tour. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://nineplanets.org/pluto.html>.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Charon (moon) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charon_(moon)>.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Charon." Views of the Solar System. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://www.solarviews.com/eng/charon.html> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"The "Geology" of Pluto and Charon." SAO/NASA ADS: ADS Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003EAEJA.....7936M>.