Pluto’s Atmosphere Loses 16% Pressure as Dwarf Planet Recedes From the Sun
Updated
Updated · europeantimes.news · Aug 10
Pluto’s Atmosphere Loses 16% Pressure as Dwarf Planet Recedes From the Sun
3 articles · Updated · europeantimes.news · Aug 10
Summary
A 16% pressure drop between mid-2021 and July 2023 marks the first direct sign that Pluto’s atmosphere may be starting to collapse.
Ten stellar occultation observations from 2017 to 2023 let Amanda Sickafoose’s team track the nitrogen-rich atmosphere, which had stayed roughly stable from the 2015 New Horizons flyby until mid-2021.
As Pluto moves away from the Sun for the first time since its 1930 discovery, weaker sunlight cools the surface and can freeze atmospheric nitrogen back into ice, cutting off the vapor that sustains the atmosphere.
Researchers expect Pluto’s haze to sink and thin as pressure falls, though the ice-atmosphere physics remain uncertain; Pluto will keep receding until 2114, when its atmosphere may begin recovering.