Pluto may be in the danger of losing its wispy atmosphere by 2030. A team of international researchers led by University of Tasmania astronomer Andrew Cole have been studying the celestial body.
Located 3.7 billion miles (5.9 billion kilometres) from the Sun, the dwarf planet was discovered in 1930. And later in 1980, astronomers began to suspect it may have an atmosphere. It largely comprised of nitrogen with traces of methane and carbon monoxide, all of which had vaporized from their solid icy forms on its surface.
During the last decades of the 20th century and the first decades of the 21st century, the Earth and Pluto were perfectly aligned with a dense cluster of stars in the centre of the Milky Way. This was a perfect opportunity for astronomers to capture data and information.
We were able to construct seasonal models of Pluto and how it responds to changes with the amount of sunlight it receives as it orbits the Sun,” Dr. Cole said. “What we found was when Pluto is farthest away from the Sun, and during its winter in the northern hemisphere, nitrogen freezes out of the atmosphere.”
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“The atmospheric pressure has tripled over the past three decades, but as the dwarf planet orbits, our modelling showed that most of the atmosphere would condense out to almost nothing left,” Dr Cole said in a statement. “What our predictions show is that by 2030 the atmosphere is going to frost out and vanish around the whole planet.” The researcher adds, “If it does freeze over, Pluto may appear brighter in the sky due to sunlight reflecting.”
A recent informal poll taken by a small group of scientists voted overwhelmingly in favour of reinstating Pluto’s full planetary status.