Pluto's atmosphere is undergoing a significant alteration and disappearing, as per a recent study by researchers. The icy dwarf planet's atmosphere is mainly made up of nitrogen.
The dwarf planet lies about 4.8 billion kilometers away from the Earth in the Kuiper Belt. It had lost its planet status years ago. It reportedly caught the attention of scientists when it passed in front of a star back in 2018.
Astronomers discovered that Pluto's atmosphere is undergoing a strange transformation.
Study: Key Highlights
•A team of researchers was able to make observations of the dwarf planet and its atmosphere with the star backlighting the dwarf planet.
•The researchers then found evidence that Pluto's atmosphere is starting to disappear.
•They studied the dwarf planet's thin atmosphere using telescopes at multiple sites in Mexico and the United States.
•Pluto's atmosphere is primarily made of nitrogen, like that of Earth. Its atmosphere is supported by the vapor pressure of ices on the dwarf planet's surface.
•Hence, if the ice warms up, it can dramatically alter the density of its atmosphere, as per the researchers.
•The study was conducted by researchers at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI).
Why is Pluto's atmosphere starting to disappear?The researchers stated that Pluto is getting colder and colder. For the past 25 years, Pluto has been moving farther and farther away from the sun and thus receiving less and less sunlight and its surface temperature has been going down. With the dwarf planet moving farther away from the Sun, its atmosphere is actually refreezing back onto its surface, the researchers noted. However, due to a phenomenon known as thermal inertia, Pluto's surface pressure and atmospheric density continued to rise till 2018. The dwarf planet had residual heat from when it was closer to the sun. However, the researchers pointed out that the inertia is starting to wear off and, as Pluto gets colder, more of its atmosphere will freeze back onto its surface and "disappear." |
Pluto's AtmospherePluto's atmosphere is largely supported by the vapour pressure of its surface ices, unlike the atmosphere of the Earth. This means that even small changes in surface ice temperatures could majorly alter the bulk density of its atmosphere. Till now, the nitrogen ice reservoirs on Pluto’s surface were kept warm by stored heat under the surface, which had contributed to the continued persistence of Pluto's atmosphere, but the new data suggests that they are starting to cool. Pluto takes 248 Earth years to complete one orbit around the Sun. Its distance from the sun varies, from about 30 astronomical units to 50 astronomical units. One astronomical unit is the distance from the Earth to the Sun. |
Background
Pluto is so far from the sun that, as time goes on, it will get distinctly farther away (and colder) before getting closer to the sun in other regions of its immense orbit.
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