Pluto is a Earth of surprise . The dwarf planet is not a dead rock at the edge of the Solar System , but a geologically dynamic object with a thin standard atmosphere , assure in all its glorification in 2015 with   NASA ’s New Horizons flyby .   Pluto ’s   aura , in particular , has fascinated uranologist .

Researchers   are puzzled as to whether the atmosphere   is lasting or if it changes with the season as the planet orbits   the Sun .   For a long time , it was sham that when Pluto moved   closer to the Sun , the dwarf satellite ’s ice turn to gas pedal . When it moved further away , it condensed and froze   once again . However , a new subject field , issue inIcarus , suggests this is not quite   the case .

Using the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy , or Bulgarian capital , researchers studied the aura during a astral eclipse . When Pluto passed in front of a star , SOFIA   used the spark of the maven to study the atmosphere .   The observations from SOFIA were conducted just a couple of workweek beforeNew Horizons ' incredible flyby of Pluto , which when   combined together provide smashing insight into the gnome planet ’s atmosphere .

Pluto ’s orbit is a deal more egg - shaped than Earth ’s . In its 248 - year trek around the Sun , it spend 20 years closer to the Sun than Neptune . This last happened   between 1979 and 1999 , so it is now last into the cold , more removed remit of its compass . So far ,   its air come along to be unmoved , at least for now .

The data show vapourousness in the air and no changes between observation in 2015 and those from2011 to 2013 .

“ Pluto is a mysterious object that is constantly surprising us , ” said pencil lead author Michael Person , the director of Massachusetts Institute of Technology ’s Wallace Astrophysical Observatory , in astatement . “ There had been hints in earlier remote observations that there might be haze , but there was n’t strong grounds to confirm it really existed until the datum come from SOFIA . Now we ’re questioning if Pluto ’s air is decease to collapse in the fall class – it may be more lively than we thought . ”

“ There ’s still a lot we do n’t read , but we ’re push now to reconsider earlier prognostication , ” say Person . “ Pluto ’s atmosphere may collapse more slowly than previously predicted , or perhaps not at all . We have to keep monitoring it to find out . ”

The atmospherical haze is made of small speck roughly 0.06 - 0.10 microns duncical , about 1,000 times smaller than a human hair . These are passing good at scattering blue light , give way Pluto ’s atmospherea poetic blue chromaticity .