Latest NASA research suggests that the surface of Pluto’s moon Charon received its unique, cracked surface due to a natural event that occurred when it started cooling down.

As per NASA scientists, pictures from the agency’s New Horizons mission have suggested that there are a lot of chances that Charon had an ocean underneath its surface that had frozen with the passage of time.

The ‘pull apart’ tectonic faults that came out as ridges and valleys on the surface of Charon resulted at the time of moon expansion.

Charon’s outer layer is mostly composed of water ice. During the early days of the moon, its outer layer used to get warmth form the internal heat from its formation, as well as decaying radioactive elements.

The warmth might have been sufficient to melt the water ice that resulted into the ocean. However, the ocean had eventually frozen and stretched with the cooling down of Charon, leading into the strange chasms detected by New Horizons.

The US space agency with its ‘Incredible Hulk’ theory after studying pictured captured by New Horizons’ Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) instrument. The main focus of the instrument was on the Serenity Chasma, which had then let the space agency’s researchers to get some clue of its features.

NASA said that the surface of Charon is pure water ice, having a temperature of -364 degrees Fahrenheit, or only a hundred degrees or quite hotter as compared to absolute zero.

The ridges and chasms of Charon stand out for being among our solar system’s deepest and longest ones. The aforesaid Serenity Chasma is roughly 1,100 miles long and 4.5 miles deep, making the Grand Canyon, which is 277 miles long, one mile deep, appear small in comparison. Mars’ Valles Marineris is quite longer at 2,500 miles long, however 4 miles deep.