Pluto’s atmosphere is cold and hazy. Recent observations have shown it to be much colder than predicted theoretically, suggesting an unknown cooling mechanism. Atmospheric gas molecules, particularly water vapour, have been proposed as a coolant; however, because Pluto’s thermal structure is expected to be in radiative–conductive equilibrium, the required water vapour would need to be supersaturated by many orders of magnitude under thermodynamic equilibrium conditions. Here the researchers report that atmospheric hazes, rather than gases, can explain Pluto’s temperature profile.
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Links:
[1] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/feature-article/haze-heats-pluto%E2%80%99s-atmosphere-yet-explains-its-cold-temperature
[2] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/xi-zhang
[3] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/darrell-f-strobel
[4] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/hiroshi-imanaka
[5] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/journal/nature
[6] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/planets
[7] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/physical-science
[8] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/atmosphere
