Uploaded July 2015 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
New Horizons has just flown by Pluto and already we're learning about the atmosphere! This is Pluto in a Minute.
New Horizons studied Pluto's atmosphere using a method caller solar occultation. The spacecraft flew behind Pluto and measured its atmosphere using the Alice spectrograph. Basically what that means is that the sunlight filtering through Pluto's atmosphere was absorbed by certain wavelengths given the gases that make up that atmosphere. Alice measured that absorption spectrum to tell scientists exactly what that atmosphere is made of. But not just what the atmosphere is made of, where those gases are in the atmosphere as well. And the results were a little bit surprising.
Before getting to Pluto, New Horizons mission scientists knew that the atmosphere was made largely of methane and nitrogen. However, the initial results say that methane is actually found higher in the atmosphere than expected and nitrogen is found a little bit lower in the atmosphere tan expected. What this means on the whole is that the atmosphere is cooler than expected, and because a cooler gas tends to contract, the atmosphere is a little bit less extended than scientists anticipated.
This is just one measurement about Pluto's atmosphere from New Horizons. There is so much more to come in the weeks ahead, but in the meantime, for more about Pluto be sure to check out the New Horizons websites, tweet your question and join the discussion with the hashtag #PlutoFlyby, and of course come back here every day for more Pluto in a Minute.
nasa.gov/newhorizons
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu
New Horizons has just flown by Pluto and already we're learning about the atmosphere! This is Pluto in a Minute.
New Horizons studied Pluto's atmosphere using a method caller solar occultation. The spacecraft flew behind Pluto and measured its atmosphere using the Alice spectrograph. Basically what that means is that the sunlight filtering through Pluto's atmosphere was absorbed by certain wavelengths given the gases that make up that atmosphere. Alice measured that absorption spectrum to tell scientists exactly what that atmosphere is made of. But not just what the atmosphere is made of, where those gases are in the atmosphere as well. And the results were a little bit surprising.
Before getting to Pluto, New Horizons mission scientists knew that the atmosphere was made largely of methane and nitrogen. However, the initial results say that methane is actually found higher in the atmosphere than expected and nitrogen is found a little bit lower in the atmosphere tan expected. What this means on the whole is that the atmosphere is cooler than expected, and because a cooler gas tends to contract, the atmosphere is a little bit less extended than scientists anticipated.
This is just one measurement about Pluto's atmosphere from New Horizons. There is so much more to come in the weeks ahead, but in the meantime, for more about Pluto be sure to check out the New Horizons websites, tweet your question and join the discussion with the hashtag #PlutoFlyby, and of course come back here every day for more Pluto in a Minute.
nasa.gov/newhorizons
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu
