Facts about Eris's methane surface
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The albedo of Eris's methane surface is among the highest measured for any body in the outer solar system, making it nearly as reflective as fresh snow.
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High-resolution imaging suggests Eris's methane surface contains isolated nitrogen-ice deposits concentrated near the dwarf planet's poles, similar to patterns observed on Pluto's Sputnik Planitia region.
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Eris's methane surface exhibits significant color variations between bright white regions and darker patches, with spectroscopic data suggesting the darker areas contain non-methane carbon compounds deposited through billions of years of cosmic ray irradiation.
- 08
Around 2.5 kilometers of elevation variation characterizes Eris's methane surface, with topographic features suggesting that ice sublimation and redeposition have sculpted the dwarf planet's terrain over geological timescales.
- 07
Methane ice on Eris's surface exhibits a distinctive reddish coloration in certain regions, likely caused by organic compounds called tholins that have been chemically altered by cosmic ray exposure over millions of years.
- 06
Models suggest Eris's methane surface may experience pressure-driven winds reaching speeds of several meters per second as sublimating ice creates localized atmospheric density variations.
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Observations indicate Eris's methane surface contains crystalline structures that form distinctive ridges and valleys across the dwarf planet's landscape.
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Eris's methane surface exhibits extreme brightness variations across its geography, with some regions reflecting up to 96 percent of sunlight due to fresh methane frost deposits.
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Thermal measurements from the Herschel Space Observatory indicate Eris's methane surface reaches temperatures around minus 243 degrees Celsius, among the coldest known planetary surfaces in our solar system.
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Eris's methane surface undergoes seasonal sublimation cycles as the dwarf planet's highly eccentric orbit brings it closer to and farther from the Sun over its 557-year period.
- 01
Spectroscopic observations from 2010 revealed that Eris's methane surface contains nitrogen and tholins alongside methane ice in a composition similar to Pluto's.