Back حوض سبوتنك Arabic Sputnik Planitia Spanish Spoutnik (plaine) French Sputnik Planitia Croatian Sputnik Planitia ID Sputnik Planitia Italian Sputnik Planitia NN Sputnik Planitia NB Равнина Спутника Russian Sputnik Planum Turkish
 New Horizons mosaic of the Sputnik Planitia basin | |
| Feature type | Planitia, impact basin[1] |
|---|---|
| Location | Tombaugh Regio, Pluto |
| Coordinates | 20°N 180°E / 20°N 180°E[2] |
| Diameter | 1492 km ~1300 km basin diameter[3] |
| Surface area | ~5 278 000 km2[a] |
| Dimensions | 1400 km × 1200 km[3][b] |
| Discoverer | New Horizons |
| Eponym | Sputnik 1 satellite |
Sputnik Planitia /ˈspʌtnɪk pləˈnɪʃiə, ˈspʊt-/ (originally Sputnik Planum)[4] is a large, partially glaciated basin on Pluto. About 1,400 by 1,200 km (870 by 750 mi) in size,[3] Sputnik Planitia is partially submerged in large, bright glaciers of nitrogen ice. Named after Earth's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, it constitutes the western lobe of the heart-shaped Tombaugh Regio. Sputnik Planitia lies mostly in the northern hemisphere, but extends across the equator. Much of it has a surface of irregular polygons separated by troughs, interpreted as convection cells in the relatively soft nitrogen ice. The polygons average about 33 km (21 mi) across.[5] In some cases troughs are populated by blocky mountains or hills, or contain darker material.[6] There appear to be windstreaks on the surface with evidence of sublimation.[7][8] The dark streaks are a few kilometers long and all aligned in the same direction.[6] The planitia also contains pits apparently formed by sublimation.[6] No craters were detectable by New Horizons, implying a surface less than 10 million years old.[9] Modeling sublimation pit formation yields a surface age estimate of 180000+90000
−40000 years.[10] Near the northwest margin is a field of transverse dunes (perpendicular to the windstreaks), spaced about 0.4 to 1 km apart, that are thought to be composed of 200-300 μm diameter particles of methane ice derived from the nearby Al-Idrisi Montes.[11][12]
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