Charon: A brief history of tides

Abstract

In 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft flew past Pluto and its moon Charon, providing the first clear look at the surface of Charon. New Horizons images revealed an ancient surface, a large, intricate canyon system, and many fractures, among other geologic features. Here, we assess whether tidal stresses played a significant role in the formation of tensile fractures on Charon. Although presently in a circular orbit, most scenarios for the orbital evolution of Charon include an eccentric orbit for some period of time and possibly an internal ocean. Past work has shown that these conditions could have generated stresses comparable in magnitude to other tidally fractured moons, such as Europa and Enceladus. However, we find no correlation between observed fracture orientations and those predicted to form due to eccentricity-driven tidal stress. It thus seems more likely that the orbit of Charon circularized before its ocean froze, and that either tidal stresses alone were insufficient to fracture the surface or subsequent resurfacing remove these ancient fractures.

arXiv comment12 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables

References in corpus (6)

• The Geology of Pluto and Charon Through the Eyes of New Horizons
• Impact Craters on Pluto and Charon Indicate a Deficit of Small Kuiper Belt Objects
• Mean radius and shape of Pluto and Charon from New Horizons images
• Complete Tidal Evolution of Pluto-Charon
• Relevance of Tidal Heating on Large TNOs
• The Contraction/Expansion History of Charon with implication for its Planetary Scale Tectonic Belt

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Tidal insights into rocky and icy bodies: An introduction and overview
• Tidal Dissipation in Dual-Body, Highly Eccentric, and Non-synchronously Rotating Systems: Applications to Pluto-Charon and the Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1e
• Synchronisation of a tidal binary by inward orbital migration. The case of Pluto and Charon
• The Tidal-Thermal Evolution of the Pluto-Charon System