Space

8791 readers

48 users here now

Share & discuss informative content on: Astrophysics, Cosmology, Space Exploration, Planetary Science and Astrobiology.

Rules

Be respectful and inclusive.
No harassment, hate speech, or trolling.
Engage in constructive discussions.
Share relevant content.
Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.
Use appropriate language and tone.
Report violations.
Foster a continuous learning environment.

Picture of the Day

The Busy Center of the Lagoon Nebula

Related Communities

🔭 Science

🚀 Engineering

🌌 Art and Photography

Other Cool Links

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

181

(Old) picture of Pluto captured by the New Horizons spacecraft (sopuli.xyz)

submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

14 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Does anyone know why it looks like Pluto has an atmosphere in this picture?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Short answer? Because it does. It doesn't take much to be visible compared to space.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I don’t think any planet^1^ has surprised us more than Pluto.

^1^ I know. If anyone gets pedantic, they’re reclassified as a dwarf clown.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Pluto's atmosphere has been studied since the 1980s, using spectroscopy and stellar occultation (watching starlight flicker as Pluto passed in front of it). It wasn't a surprise when New Horizons observed it.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago

I wasn’t thinking about the atmosphere. I meant in general, Pluto surprised more than other first fly-bys. Uranus is obviously extra weird in a lot of ways but who was expecting Pluto to be as interesting?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

Oh wow that's really cool! I didn't know.

It's about one millionth of the pressure of earth's atmosphere at sea level.