The latest data sent by New Horizons shows a region near Charon’s equator. It appears that a mountain is rising out of a trough. Scientists have named the feature as “mountain in a moat”. The region is having a small number of craters and it is nearly 240 miles (390 km) wide.

The New Horizons team has sent a composite image that shows Charon as one together with a zoomed-in rectangular section. According to New Horizons team member Bonnie Buratti, it seems as if someone just threw an enormous boulder on Charon. She added that scientists observing the strange feature are “flabbergasted”.

Anne Verbiscer, a mission team member, compared the mountain on Charon to a feature on strange moon of Saturn.

As per reports, the compound ammonia hydrate has been also found on the surfaces of Iapetus and Charon. According to Verbiscer, Charon’s mountain could be linked to cryovolcanism that takes place on Iapetus too.

According to her, “Ammonia hydrate acts like antifreeze when mixed with water ice, and can help with making cryovolcanic activities possible on bodies such as Charon and Iapetus”. As per Jeff Moore, head of the mission’s Geology, Geophysics, and Imaging (GGI) team, this feature surprised geologists and has also led to confusion.

According to Buratti, cracks on Charon’s surface resemble those found on Earth’s Moon and on Mercury. But in case of the Moon and Mercury, lava tubes led to the creation of cracks, whereas this may not occur on Charon. At one time, Charon was geologically active, and its surface indicates that it could still be active.