Pluto's Atmosphere is Thinning

Pluto’s atmosphere appears to be shrinking as the dwarf planet travels farther from the Sun. Scientists studying observations from 2017 to 2023 found that its atmospheric pressure dropped by about 16% between mid-2021 and July 2023. They measured this by observing Pluto as it passed in front of distant stars, a technique that lets researchers study the properties of its thin atmosphere.

NASA calls this image “Pluto’s Blue Sky.”
It’s a backlit view of Pluto, acquired by the New Horizons spacecraft as it sped away from
the dwarf planet after its 2015 flyby.

Researchers have long predicted that Pluto’s nitrogen-rich atmosphere would gradually freeze onto its surface as the planet moved into colder regions of the solar system. The new findings may be the first clear evidence that this process is underway. While Pluto’s atmosphere remained relatively stable after the New Horizons flyby in 2015, the recent decline suggests that it could continue thinning and eventually undergo the atmospheric collapse scientists have expected for decades.

Read the complete story at: EarthSky