The fog of Pluto surprises scientists. “Unique phenomenon”

Platoon, a distant and mysterious world at the ends of the solar system, surprises scientists again. The latest observations made by the James Webb (JWST) space telescope reveal how much the atmosphere of this dwarf planet is unique against the background of the entire solar system. The research was published at the beginning of June in the scientific journal Nature Astronomy.

In 2015, readings from the New Horizons probe mission showed that the platoon is not a dead ice ball, but a dynamic world with ice plains, mountains and – most importantly – a multi -layer, blue fog rising even 300 kilometers above the surface of the planet.

“We use the term fog to describe solid layers of aerosols suspended high in the atmosphere,” explained Tanguy Bertrand, an astronomer from the Paris observatory, which managed the study. “These aerosols disperse light and reduce visibility, creating a dispersed and translucent layer,” he added.

The fog around Pluto, consisting of particles resulting from the reaction of methane and nitrogen under the influence of sunlight, is much more extensive than the scientists predicted.

Thanks to the precise infrared measurements using the James Webba space telescope, it was possible to confirm the hypothesis that this fog is not only a visual curiosity – it controls the atmosphere of Pluto. Mist particles absorb sunlight during the day, and at night radiate thermal energy in the form of infrared radiation, effectively cooling the atmosphere. This explains why the upper layers of Pluto's atmosphere are up to 30 degrees Celsius cooler than the previous models predicted – the temperature reaches even -203 degrees C.

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Such a phenomenon was not observed on any other planet or moon. “This is a unique phenomenon in the solar system,” Tanguy Bertrand said. “It's a new type of climate,” he added.

In the case of Pluto, it is not greenhouse gases, but fog particles determine the energy balance of the atmosphere, affecting global temperature and atmospheric circulation. In addition, the fog contributes to the escape of methane and other molecules from the atmosphere of Pluto, some of which go to his moon Charon, dying his poles red.

This discovery not only changes the look at Pluto, but can be relevant to the research of other blue bodies with foggy atmospheres, such as Titan (Saturn Moon) or Tryton (Neptune Moon). What's more, scientists suggest that a similar mechanism could work at a very early stage of the existence of the earth, before the atmosphere saturated with oxygen – the fog of organic particles could stabilize the temperature and promote life.

The platoon turns out to be a climate laboratory with a completely new class. Thanks to the space telescope James Webba, scientists confirmed that the fog of organic particles not only creates unusual Optical phenomenabut fundamentally shapes the atmosphere of this distant dwarf planet. According to scientists, this discovery opens new perspectives in researching the atmosphere of other planets and even the history of the Earth.