Pluto now found to have Larger atmosphere than previously thought

Pluto now found to have Larger atmosphere than previously thought

www.space.com...

Ok so now they have found that pluto has a large poisonous carbon monoxide Atmosphere; This is going to get interesting.

The Height of Plutos Atmosphere is now thought to extend to 3000 kilometres above the surface

This is interesting since Plutos Radius is only around 1150 + or - 10 kilometres.

The atmosphere of Pluto was known to extend more than 60 miles (about 100 kilometers) above the surface, the researchers said, but the new findings raise that height to more than 1,860 miles (3,000 km) — equivalent to a quarter of the distance out to Pluto's largest moon, Charon.

So does this mean Pluto may appear as a mini gaseous Planets? Depends on how thick the atmosphere is i'd surmise

"The change in brightness over the last decade is startling. We think the atmosphere may have grown in size, or the carbon monoxide abundance may have been boosted.

" Fluctuations in the atmosphere have been seen before, but only in the lower atmosphere, where methane — the only other gas to be positively identified — has also been seen to vary, the researchers said.

The atmospheric gases are likely the result of solar heating of Pluto's surface ice, which evaporates due to the slightly higher temperatures experienced during this period. In 1989 Pluto made its closest approach to the sun, which is considered a relatively recent event, considering that it takes the planet 248 years to complete one orbit around the sun.

Pluto's resulting atmosphere is probably the most fragile in our solar system, the researchers said, with the top layers blowing off into the cosmos.

I can't wait for the New Horizons Craft that will reach Pluto in July Of 2015

Its a shame the New Horizons craft won't be able to orbit Pluto its only doing a fly-by!

Interesting times ahead guys this is why i love space; so many new things to explore and learn!

The Atmosphere may be temporary as well they are saying it could be related to the changes in brightness they are witnessing interesting

The newly discovered carbon monoxide could play a key role in slowing the loss of Pluto's atmosphere. But, if the chilling effect is too great, it could result in nitrogen snowfalls and all the gases freezing on the ground, the researchers said.

So its snowing Nitrogen on Pluto?

Interesting so they also stated in the article the atmosphere is probably mostly nitrogen with some carbon monoxide and methane.


Artists Impression Of Pluto Surface View
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/8c9d3c3ea471.jpg[/atsimg]
Pluto Picture from Hubble
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7a2ee0f03cf8.jpg[/atsimg]

I think that when it comes to space and other planets...there are many many things that we supposedly thought that are going to found as wrong...I think we're in for big surprises in the future as we develop more advanced research on the topic...one of the reasons i can't take scientists seriously when they talk about how things supposedly "are" in the known universe...big surprises coming I think

reply to post by here4awhile


I know and to think they classified Pluto as a Dwarf Planet shame on them; Now.

Look Pluto has an atmosphere as large as Earths almost! Maybe not as dense they do not know how dense it is yet at-least it wasn't stated in the article how dense it was but yes it has an atmosphere even if it is temporary.

I think it was wrong to declassify Pluto as a Planet....

Originally posted by XRaDiiX

Look Pluto has an atmosphere as large as Earths almost!

Earth's atmosphere extends over 100,000 km.

I thought I read this last year? Must've been on one of those government run, lie-filled science sites. Well I it's officially true now that it's been reposted on ATS as current news

reply to post by nataylor

Earth's atmosphere extends over 100,000 km.

Really?? Never heard that before..
Max I've seen is around 600klms..

reply to post by backinblack


Including the exosphere, yes, it extends for quite a distance.

reply to post by nataylor


en.wikipedia.org...

10,000 kilometres

So yes in fact Pluto's atmosphere is quite large and close to earths for a small planet...

Originally posted by nataylor
reply to post by backinblack

 

Including the exosphere, yes, it extends for quite a distance.

I read up..
Even at 1000klms it is barely detectable..
At a 100000klms I'd say it was just atmosphere drifting off..
Not really AN atmosphere..

reply to post by backinblack


Tenuous, certainly. But probably around the same density as Pluto's atmosphere at 3000 km.

Originally posted by nataylor
reply to post by backinblack

 

Tenuous, certainly. But probably around the same density as Pluto's atmosphere at 3000 km.

I can live with that..

reply to post by XRaDiiX


en.wikipedia.org...

100,000 km observable, up to a theoretical 190,000 km.

The upper boundary of the exosphere can be defined theoretically by the altitude about 190,000 kilometres (120,000 mi), half the distance to the Moon, at which the influence of solar radiation pressure on atomic hydrogen velocities exceeds that of the Earth’s gravitational pull. The exosphere observable from space as the geocorona is seen to extend to at least 100,000 kilometres (62,000 mi) from the surface of the Earth. The exosphere is a transitional zone between Earth’s atmosphere and interplanetary space.

reply to post by nataylor


Well i was meaning the observable atmosphere which means the dense part that only extends somewhere around 1,000 to 3,000 kilometres. I understand the atmosphere is much larger in a sense due to the mass amount of loss hydrogen and lighter particles around the Earth.

You're also mixing things up here; Semantics... The Geo Corona Extends 100,000kms approx or 15.5 Earth Radii So no it is not exactly visible to us but in infra-red light; be realistic here we are talking about the atmosphere which is observable the dense part; The spectrum of light that we can see .

I'm not even sure if they mean Pluto has a dense atmosphere or they were able to find out how dense it is because they do not mention it in the article.

If the 100,000km or 200,000 number you present of dense Earth Atmosphere. Actually extended that far Earth would look like gas planet because thats 1/4 (100,000km) 1/2 (200,000km) to the distance to the moon see what i mean ?

See now yes the atmosphere extends that far but its a scattered amount of lighter particles like hydrogen and helium. The density is extremely low

Amazing, what happens if its starts moving next. S&F

reply to post by Ophiuchus 13


It would probably look like a giant comet who knows.

Originally posted by XRaDiiX
but its a scattered amount of lighter particles like hydrogen and helium. The density is extremely low

I totally agree. However, what they're finding on Pluto at that distance is likely just as diffuse as the Earth's upper exosphere. So if you're comparing diameters, it would make sense to compare to points of similar density.

FYI, here's the actual paper: arxiv.org...

They don't specifically determine the density of the Pluto's atmosphere, but they do say this:

The CO upper boundary estimated to be at about 4500 km above the centre of Pluto corresponds to ≈ 4 radii, for RPluto ≈ 1153 km (Tholen & Buie 1997). This is a reasonable upper bound, given that above ≈ 3-5 RPluto, the gas should become so diffuse that is is collisionless (Strobel 2008), and thus the CO J=2 level will not be populated. Also, interaction with the solar wind will cause ionised gas (and any swept-up neutrals) to flow away into space, above ≈ 5 RPluto in the simulations of Delamere (2009); Harnett et al. (2005).

So if you're comparing the height at which the gases become diffuse enough to be purely ballistic, it makes sense to use the height of Earth's exosphere at 100,000 km.

Intersting. Well we don't know as fact how big the core of the gas giants are. If plutos gas makes it larger than mercury or mars would they have to make it a planet again? If not will they have to define gas planets by density of gas.

Originally posted by XRaDiiX
reply to post by Ophiuchus 13

 

It would probably look like a giant comet who knows.

edit on 20-4-2011 by XRaDiiX because: (no reason given)

Good 1

reply to post by nataylor


Thank you for clarifying this they did not state this in the article.

I thank you for bringing this to light so does this mean Pluto's atmosphere could possibly be a somewhat thick atmosphere closer the the surface. Because what i assumed in the data you present; is that the atmosphere cannot be very dense past 3-5 Pluto Radii

What i am most interested by this data is that liquid nitrogen becomes frozen around -210 degrees C and Pluto's temperature can be is known to generally be around 225 C does this mean that if the temperature increases to around 200 C would liquid nitrogen then be present on Pluto's Surface; maybe Pluto can generate enough heat to cause liquid nitrogen to be present on the surface? Also Maybe Liquid methane as well.

Because from the knowledge i have gathered so far; is that Pluto's surface is coated with Frozen Nitrogen/Methane this is very interesting indeed. Maybe NASA is keeping it secret so they can have all the glory of finding Liquid Methan/Nitrogen when New Horizons get there.

Of course this is all just speculation but if the temperature became just a around 20-25C warmer on Pluto which can probably happen sometimes then Liquid/Methane Nitrogen can become present on the surface perhaps?

I think we are going to learn a lot once New Horizons reaches Pluto Many; things we didn't know before.


Also to clarify would they be able to detect Pluto's Thin (exo-sphere) per se with this technique?. Or is the Atmosphere they are detecting around Pluto Actually quite Thick 1-3 Radii Out from Pluto because they Stated in the Article it would explain why Pluto's brightness is Changing so much over past observations. Maybe they are only seeing the Lower part of the atmosphere from this observation or can you clarify further on this because i don't have time right now to check out the paper you posted; i will later. Thank you

reply to post by Ophiuchus 13


That will Keep the Comet Elenin people going for a while Maybe they will say Pluto Is Wormwood! Or Niburu