Tombaugh Cliffs
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Tombaugh Cliffs () is a group of ice-free cliffs which stand at the north side of the mouth of
Pluto Glacier Pluto Glacier () is a glacier on the east coast of Alexander Island, Antarctica, 10 nautical miles (18 km) long and 4 nautical miles (7 km) wide, which flows east into George VI Sound to the north of Succession Cliffs. Although Pluto Gl ...
and face towards the
George VI Ice Shelf The George VI Ice Shelf () is an extensive ice shelf that occupies George VI Sound which separates Alexander Island from Palmer Land in Antarctica. The ice shelf extends from Ronne Entrance, at the southwest end of the sound (geography), sound, ...
which occupies
George VI Sound George VI Sound or Canal Jorge VI or Canal Presidente Sarmiento or Canal Seaver or King George VI Sound or King George the Sixth Sound is a major bay/ fault depression, 300 miles (483 km) long and mainly covered by a permanent ice shelf. I ...
, on the east side of
Alexander Island Alexander Island, which is also known as Alexander I Island, Alexander I Land, Alexander Land, Alexander I Archipelago, and Zemlja Alexandra I, is the largest island of Antarctica. It lies in the Bellingshausen Sea west of Palmer Land, Antarcti ...
,
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
. Photographed from the air by the
Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition The Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition (RARE) was an expedition from 1947–1948 which researched the area surrounding the head of the Weddell Sea in Antarctica. Background Finn Ronne led the RARE which was the final privately sponsored exp ...
in 1947–48; surveyed by
Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey The Falkland Islands and Dependencies Aerial Survey Expedition (FIDASE) was an aerial survey of the Falkland Islands Dependencies The Falkland Islands Dependencies was the constitutional arrangement from 1843 until 1985 for administering the v ...
from 1948 to 1950. The naming by the
United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee The UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (or UK-APC) is a United Kingdom government committee, part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, responsible for recommending names of geographical locations within the British Antarctic Territory (BAT) and ...
continues the astronomy related or celestial theme displayed in the toponymy of this area. The cliffs were named for
Clyde Tombaugh Clyde William Tombaugh (; February 4, 1906 – January 17, 1997) was an American astronomer best known for discovering Pluto, the first object to be identified in what would later be recognized as the Kuiper belt, in 1930. Raised on farms in ...
(1906-1997), an American
astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...
who studied at
Lowell Observatory Lowell Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Lowell Observatory was established in 1894, placing it among the oldest observatories in the United States, and was designated a National Historic Landmark ...
and who first discovered the dwarf planet
Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...
in 1930.


References

*


See also

*
Cannonball Cliffs The Cannonball Cliffs () are cliffs at the south side of the terminus of Neptune Glacier on the east side of Alexander Island, Antarctica. The feature consists of two east–west ridges about high, joined by a narrow north–south ridge. The fea ...
*
Corner Cliffs The Corner Cliffs () are a rocky mass surmounted by two flat-topped summits , immediately south of Saturn Glacier and lying northeast of Coal Nunatak in the southeast part of Alexander Island, Antarctica. The rocks of these cliffs were hidden ...
*
Succession Cliffs Succession Cliffs () is a line of steep cliffs 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km) extending along the east coast of Alexander Island, Antarctica, facing east towards George VI Sound immediately south of the mouth of Pluto Glacier. The cliffs were p ...
Cliffs of Alexander Island {{AlexanderIsland-geo-stub