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There are five climate zones on Pluto which are defined by the sub-solar latitude, [1] each with specific boundaries. However, the latitude ranges of the climate zones expand and shrink in response to the obliquity range of Pluto from a minimum of 103° to a maximum of 127° over the 2.8 million year oscillation period.
Pluto is the only trans-Neptunian object with a known atmosphere. [7] Its closest analog is the atmosphere of Triton, although in some aspects it resembles even the atmosphere of Mars. [8] [9] The atmosphere of Pluto has been studied since the 1980s by way of earth-based observation of occultations of stars by Pluto [10] [11] and spectroscopy. [12]
Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest known trans-Neptunian object by volume, by a small margin, but is less massive than Eris.
Before New Horizons started sending back data and close-up images of Pluto, we barely knew the dwarf planet. We were like a love-sick fool who could only observe from afar. Now, the New Horizons ...
Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science Investigation (PEPSSI), is an instrument on the New Horizons space probe to Pluto and beyond, it is designed to measure ions and electrons. [1] Specifically, it is focused on measuring ions escaping from the atmosphere of Pluto during the 2015 flyby . [ 2 ]
SWAP is designed to be able to detect the sparse solar wind concentration at 32 AU, which is about three orders of magnitude less than near Earth (1 AU). [2] However, at that distance the flow of the Solar Wind is still supersonic, and thus liable to create a bow shock around an obstacle (at the distance of about 4.5 Pluto radii from the surface). [2]
During the post Pluto cruise, REX is normally turned on monthly to measure the electron density of the solar wind between Earth and the spacecraft. [8] When New Horizons flew by Pluto in 2015, it was at about 32.9 AU from the Sun, and about 43.6 AU for the New Year's Day 2019 flyby of Arrokoth.
How could an exoplanet so far away be causing such a hubbub? Pluto's movement in Aquarius certainly is, at least in the astrological world. Faraway Pluto moves back into Aquarius, again, Jan. 20 ...