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The Lower Atmosphere of Pluto Revealed

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the they-should-buy-a-space-heater-haha-get-it-so-funny-blam-blam dept.

Matt_dk writes "Using ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers have gained valuable new insights about the atmosphere of the dwarf planet Pluto. The scientists found unexpectedly large amounts of methane in the atmosphere, and also discovered that the atmosphere is hotter than the surface by about 40 degrees, although it still only reaches a frigid minus 180 degrees Celsius. These properties of Pluto's atmosphere may be due to the presence of pure methane patches or of a methane-rich layer covering the dwarf planet's surface."

20 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. i see the future by thhamm · · Score: 3, Funny

    cue the "methane" & "uranus" jokes.

    1. Re:i see the future by Machtyn · · Score: 3, Funny

      So, now Pluto gets to be the butt of all the jokes.

    2. Re:i see the future by Amazing+Quantum+Man · · Score: 4, Funny

      That's "Gravitationally Challenged" planet, you insensitive clod!

      --
      Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
  2. Quite a long and interesting article... by amentajo · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... concerning a celestial body whose public status has recently changed from "Boring Planet" to "Boring Dwarf Planet" after its 15 minutes of fame in the news. I guess now it's a "Less Boring Dwarf Planet".

    1. Re:Quite a long and interesting article... by Canazza · · Score: 5, Informative

      um, Charon?

      --
      It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for being subtle.
    2. Re:Quite a long and interesting article... by conureman · · Score: 2, Interesting

      By no strange coincidence 1978 was the year I put away the 4" Reflector and embarked on a futile quest to control my social ineptitude near desirable women. Guess I missed a few things.

      --
      The cost of that cleanup, of course, will be borne by taxpayers, not industry.
  3. Wow, Pluto and "hot" in the same sentence. by Ihlosi · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What's next, cold spots on Venus (i.e. cold enough that lead is almost solid again)?

  4. Mostly by tverbeek · · Score: 3, Funny

    I've actually just transmitted an update to the article about Pluto in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It now reads "Mostly Boring."

    --
    http://alternatives.rzero.com/
  5. Re:What have we learned? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    methane doesn't smell of anything. its the other stuff such as SO2 that causes farts to smell.

    if methane smelt bad we wouldn't have to add thiols(really stinky molecules) to mains gas to detect leaks.

  6. Rubbing it in by orkybash · · Score: 3, Funny

    "new insights about the atmosphere of the dwarf planet Pluto"

    Aww, come on, you guys are just rubbing it in now!

  7. So... by FlyByPC · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Given that it has both a moon and an atmosphere, are they going to admit that it's a planet (albeit a weird one) -- or do we let the definition become so strict that soon nothing qualifies as a planet anymore?

    --
    Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
    1. Re:So... by Canazza · · Score: 3, Interesting

      "A dwarf planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), is a celestial body orbiting the Sun that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity but has not cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals and is not a satellite."

      By this definition, Neptune isn't a planet, it's a dwarf planet, because it hasn't cleared Pluto out of it's neighbouring region...

      --
      It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for being subtle.
    2. Re:So... by wooferhound · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Earth will Always be a planet and all other space objects will be compared against it.
      If we get too picky then Earth will be the Only planet as nothing else will fit the description of Earth.

      --
      We are Dead Stars looking back Up at the Sky
    3. Re:So... by GreenCow · · Score: 2, Informative

      This is why we have different categories of planets.

      Earth is the only Class M planet in the solar system.

      Of course, with terraforming, Mars might join us in that someday.

      Looking through: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_M_planet

      It seems like pluto should be a class K, or possibly a class D.

    4. Re:So... by M8e · · Score: 3, Funny

      Do you really want to memorize over 100 elements? NO! There should only be five! Aether, Air, Earth, Fire and Water!

      Do you really want to memorize over 100 countries? NO! There should only be one per continent!

  8. Eris by corsec67 · · Score: 3, Informative

    If Pluto gets called a planet, then Eris would also be called a planet, since it is bigger than Pluto. Otherwise "Planet" would be a very arbitrary definition.

    --
    If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
    1. Re:Eris by mysticgoat · · Score: 4, Funny

      Eris should be called a planet.

      If you don't invite her to the party, there will be hell to pay.

    2. Re:Eris by Nazlfrag · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's not the size, its the shape and clearing of orbit. If we drop the clearing orbit and Pluto and Eris are in the club, so should be Ceres, Makemake and Haumea at least. I would like them all to go back to planet status, but it's unlikely. It's all the fault of Eris anyway, they wouldn't have reclassified poor Pluto if she was a little slimmer.

      Pluto will always remain a planet to me. I'll start calling it a dwarf planet around the time I call 2^10 bytes a kibibyte or when hell freezes over, whichever comes first.

  9. Re:liquid methane by jschen · · Score: 4, Informative

    The boiling point depends on the atmospheric pressure. Boiling points are typically reported based on sea level on Earth. With a much lower atmospheric pressure on Pluto, boiling points will drop.

  10. Cold is absolute - Hot is relative by drerwk · · Score: 2, Informative

    Cold is an absolute term in that you can have absolute zero. Hot is a relative term in that there is no absolute hot, just degrees. Well maybe not - seems like the Planck temperature at 10^32 Kelvin might be an absolute hot. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/zero/hot.html Makes sense given a Planck length and Planck time.