Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The surface pressure of the atmosphere of Pluto, measured by New Horizons in 2015, is about 1 Pa (10 μbar), roughly 1/100,000 of Earth's atmospheric pressure. The temperature on the surface is 40 to 60 K (−230 to −210 °C), [ 6 ] but it quickly rises with altitude due to a methane-generated greenhouse effect .
Charon, the largest moon of Pluto, is tidally locked with it, and thus has the same climate zone structure as Pluto itself. [1] Haze with multiple layers in the atmosphere of Pluto. Part of the plain Sputnik Planitia with nearby mountains is seen below. Photo by New Horizons, taken 15 min after the closest approach to Pluto.
Bosh was on the team of scientists that made the first direct measurement of Pluto's atmosphere and flew on the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO). [4] She was also part of the team that observed a stellar occultation of Pluto on the SOFIA aircraft in 2014, [10] which occurred about two weeks before the New Horizons spacecraft's closest approach ...
The geology of Pluto consists of the characteristics of the surface, crust, and interior of Pluto. Because of Pluto's distance from Earth, in-depth study from Earth is difficult. Many details about Pluto remained unknown until 14 July 2015, when New Horizons flew through the Pluto system and began transmitting data back to Earth. [1]
Researchers arrived at the findings by 'modeling the impact dynamics,' which led to a large crater on Pluto. Scientists say there may be a massive ocean lurking beneath Pluto's surface Skip to ...
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]
Eight of the 10 largest Kuiper Belt Objects have large moons like Charon, Denton said, which means that “kiss and capture” collisions may have occurred across the Kuiper Belt as the solar ...
The basin covers an area spanning 745 miles by 1,242 miles (1,200 kilometers by 2,000 kilometers), equivalent to about one-quarter of the United States, but it’s also 1.9 to 2.5 miles (3 to 4 ...