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The atmosphere of Pluto is notable for its strong and not completely understood seasonal changes caused by peculiarities of the orbital and axial rotation of Pluto. [ 6 ] The surface pressure of the atmosphere of Pluto, measured by New Horizons in 2015, is about 1 Pa ( 10 μ bar ), roughly 1/100,000 of Earth's atmospheric pressure.
The present-day diurnal climate zone of Pluto spans from 30°N to 30°S, encompassing 50% of the total surface area, due to the current axial tilt of 120°. As obliquity changes to rise from this value, the diurnal zone will expand to the maximum from 37°N to 37°S (covering a total area of 60%), which will be reached in roughly 600,000 years.
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 ...
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Pluto's overall redness also increased substantially between 2000 and 2002. [14] These rapid changes probably relate to seasonal condensation and sublimation of portions of Pluto's atmosphere, amplified by Pluto's extreme axial tilt and high orbital eccentricity. [14]
Pluto's atmosphere backlit by the Sun. One such occultation event happened in 1988. Observations of a second occultation on August 20, 2002 suggest that Pluto's atmospheric pressure has tripled, indicating a warming of about 2 °C (3.6 °F), [41] [42] as predicted by Hansen and Paige. [43]
NASA has released a map of Pluto's surface made from images recently taken by the New Horizons probe and it includes some quite mysterious features. Particularly notable is the lightened area ...