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That still certainly appears to be the case now, especially given the recent revelations scientists have uncovered about the odd ex-planet. A study presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences<\/em> revealed that Pluto may actually be \u201closing\u201d its atmosphere, but not in the way you think; scientists actually believe that Pluto\u2019s atmosphere is freezing itself into solid form, and thus falls to\u2014and remains on\u2014its surface. This would be similar in process to those which formed some of its surface features, like the frozen plains of Tombaugh Regio<\/em>, known as \u201cPluto\u2019s heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scientists measured this apparent loss of Pluto\u2019s atmosphere by the characteristics of the light that reached Earth, after starlight from one of the stars up in the sky was blocked by Pluto as it passed through. \u201cScientists have used occultations to monitor changes in Pluto\u2019s atmosphere since 1988,\u201d according to Dr. Eliot Young, a researcher from Southwest Research Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n Dr. Young continued: \u201cNASA\u2019s New Horizons mission obtained an excellent density profile from its 2015 flyby, consistent with Pluto\u2019s bulk atmosphere doubling every decade, but our 2018 observations do not show that trend continuing from 2015.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pluto\u2019s atmosphere is predominantly composed of nitrogen gas, much like our own Earth; unlike our planet, however, Pluto\u2019s is supported by the vapor pressure of all the ice on its surface. This means that Pluto\u2019s atmospheric density is quite sensitive to temperature changes on its surface\u2014which, naturally, would also change should its orbit push it farther out from the Sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Past studies on Pluto\u2019s surface revealed that it had been receiving less and less sunlight, yet its atmospheric density and surface pressure continued to increase\u2014a phenomena scientists call thermal inertia<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Leslie Young, a fellow researcher from the Southwest Research Institute, likens this to how sand on a beach stores heat from the Sun hours after its peak at noon, making the beach sand hottest during the hours of late afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Young continued: \u201cThe continued persistence of Pluto\u2019s atmosphere suggests that nitrogen ice reservoirs on Pluto\u2019s surface were kept warm by stored heat under the surface. The new data suggest they are starting to cool.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n These results seem to align with previous analyses on the former planet back in 2019, which showed that Pluto may be nearing its own version of winter. At that point\u2014around the year 2030, according to a study published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics<\/em>\u2014Pluto\u2019s entire atmosphere will have entirely collapsed, freezing into ice and depositing onto its surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And, as a reminder: Pluto takes 248 Earth years to complete one orbit around the Sun, so a season that lasts some three (3) Earth months will likely last for far longer out in Pluto\u2019s neighborhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (For more news on our planetary (or non-planetary) neighborhood, read about our coverage of how a younger Mars was shaped by volcanic supereruptions<\/a>, and follow it up with our piece on how our own Moon was similarly shaped by impacts during its infancy<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\nReferences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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