Mordor Macula

Mordor Macula is the informal name for a large dark area about 475 km in diameter near the north pole of Charon, Pluto's largest moon. It is named after the black land called Mordor in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Geography Mordor Macula is located at Charon's north pole. Mordor Macula's dark "core" is roughly 375 kilometers in diameter, though a surrounding lighter halo extends further into the highlands of Oz Terra, beginning to appear north of 45°N and trending darker with increasing latitude. The boundary of Mordor Macula, though ill-defined, is roughly circular; two major disruptions to this circular boundary are observed, however. One, named McCaffrey Dorsum, is a curvilinear ridge 1–2 kilometers high and stretching between ~150° and ~0°W between 72° and 77°N. McCaffrey Dorsum appears to act as...