Pluto’s Atmosphere May Be Collapsing
Don’t worry, it’s supposed to do that.
Pluto, a dwarf planet discovered in 1930, completes one orbit around the Sun every 248 years. Due to its unique position beyond Neptune’s orbit, Pluto is the only object in our solar system to possess an atmosphere. This atmospheric characteristic is a result of Pluto’s drastic seasonal changes in sunlight exposure. In 1988, astronomers observed Pluto’s atmosphere for the first time during a stellar occultation, revealing a gaseous layer primarily composed of nitrogen, with traces of methane, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons.
New Horizons spacecraft, launched by NASA in 2015, captured detailed images of Pluto’s atmosphere, indicating its complexity. Pluto’s atmosphere exchanges nitrogen particles with its surface ice, particularly in areas like the heart-shaped Tombaugh Regio. However, the process of monitoring and analyzing Pluto’s atmospheric changes is challenging due to the limited number of occultations and the subtlety of the signals.
With the help of observations from over 15 telescopes worldwide, a team of planetary scientists compiled data from 1988 to 2023, including 10 new observations from 2017 to 2023. Their analysis revealed that while Pluto’s upper atmosphere remained stable, its lower atmosphere pressure had dropped by 16% – a significant change that occurred within a few years.
This indicates that Pluto’s atmospheric pressure might be collapsing ahead of its winter season, potentially continuing to drop for over 150 years.
Written by urgent.news from Eos's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
