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The atmosphere of Pluto is the layer of gasses that surround the dwarf planet Pluto. It consists mainly of nitrogen (N 2 ), with minor amounts of methane (CH 4 ) and carbon monoxide (CO), all of which are vaporized from surface ices on Pluto 's surface.
The presence of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, in Pluto's atmosphere creates a temperature inversion, with the average temperature of its atmosphere tens of degrees warmer than its surface, [142] though observations by New Horizons have revealed Pluto's upper atmosphere to be far colder than expected (70 K, as opposed to about 100 K). [137]
"Pluto is the first planetary body we know of where the atmospheric energy budget is dominated by solid-phase haze particles instead of by gases." Pluto is way cooler than it should be, and now we ...
The reddish-brown cap of the north pole of Charon, [3] the largest of five moons of Pluto, is thought to be composed of tholins, produced from methane, nitrogen and related gases released from the atmosphere of Pluto and transferred over about 19,000 km (12,000 mi) distance to the orbiting moon. [34] [35] [36]
Pluto was considered a planet up until 2006, when researchers at the International Astronomical Union voted to "demote" it to dwarf planet.
Webb for the first time detected carbon dioxide and hydrogen peroxide - both frozen as solids - on the surface of Charon, a spherical body about 750 miles (1,200 km) in diameter, researchers said ...
Pluto has an extremely thin atmosphere that consists of nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide, derived from the ices on its surface. [38] Two models [ 39 ] [ 40 ] show that the atmosphere does not completely freeze and collapse when Pluto moves further from the Sun on its extremely elliptical orbit .
The gas, specifically nitrogen, is mostly caught in the combined center of gravity between the two bodies before reaching Charon, but any gas that does reach Charon is held closely against the surface. The gas is mostly made up of ions of nitrogen, but the amounts are negligible compared to the total of Pluto's atmosphere. [54]