New Horizons Snaps Image of Pluto's Strange Atmosphere

It turns out that Pluto's atmosphere may be a bit unusual. NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has revealed that the dwarf planet's atmosphere has an unexpectedly low surface pressure compared to that derived from previous observations.

The new pressure measurement is the first ever obtained for the surface of Pluto. It was actually made by REX, which is the New Horizons spacecraft's radio experiment, about one hour after the spacecraft's closest approach to Pluto on July 14. Two radio dishes on Earth then beamed radio waves precisely timed to reach Pluto just as New Horizons passed behind the dwarf planet.

"For the first time we have ground truth, measuring the surface pressure at Pluto, giving us an invaluable perspective on conditions at the surface of the planet," said Ivan Linscott, New Horizons researcher, in a news release. "This crucial measurement may be telling us that Pluto is undergoing long-anticipated global change."

In fact, the researchers found that the gas pressure at Pluto's surface was only 1/100-thousandth that of the pressure on the surface of Earth. That's about half of the amount calculated from previous Earth-based observations.

The findings reveal a bit more about Pluto's environmental conditions, which will tell researchers a bit more about the dwarf planet itself. The researchers are now waiting on more measurements, which should be transmitted to Earth from New Horizons over the course of the next few weeks.

Want to learn more about the New Horizons mission? Visit NASA's website.

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