Tombaugh Regio
Bright region on Pluto / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Tombaugh Regio?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Tombaugh Regio (/ˈtɒmbaʊ ˈrɛdʒioʊ/), sometimes nicknamed "Pluto's heart" after its shape,[2] is the largest bright surface feature of the dwarf planet Pluto.[3][4][5] It lies just north of Pluto's equator, to the northeast of Belton Regio and to the northwest of Krun Macula, which are both dark features.[6] Its western lobe, a 1,000 km (620 mi)-wide plain of nitrogen and other ices lying within a basin, is named Sputnik Planitia.[7][8] The eastern lobe consists of high-albedo uplands thought to be coated by nitrogen transported through the atmosphere from Sputnik Planitia, and then deposited as ice. Some of this nitrogen ice then returns to Sputnik Planitia via glacial flow. The region is named after Clyde Tombaugh, the discoverer of Pluto.
Feature type | Region |
---|---|
Location | Anti-Charon hemisphere of Pluto |
Diameter | 1,590 km (990 mi)[1] |
Discoverer | New Horizons |
Eponym | Clyde Tombaugh |