Pluto’s Atmosphere Does Not Collapse

Combining stellar occultation observations probing Pluto’s atmosphere from 1988 to 2013 and models of energy balance between Pluto’s surface and atmosphere, we conclude that Pluto’s atmosphere does not collapse at any point in its 248-year orbit. The occultation results show an increasing atmospheric pressure with time in the current epoch, a trend present only in models with a high thermal inertia and a permanent N2 ice cap at Pluto’s north rotational pole.

C. B. Olkin, L. A. Young, D. Borncamp, A. Pickles, B. Sicardy, M. Assafin, F. B. Bianco, M. W. Buie, A. Dias de Oliveira, M. Gillon, R. G. French, A. Ramos Gomes Jr., E. Jehin, N. Morales, C. Opitom, J. L. Ortiz, A. Maury, M. Norbury, F. B. Ribas, R. Smith, L. H. Wasserman, E. F. Young, M. Zacharias, N. Zacharias (Submitted on 3 Sep 2013)

Comments: 12 pages, 3 figures

Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)

Cite as:  arXiv:1309.0841 [astro-ph.EP

(or arXiv:1309.0841v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version) Submission history From: Cathy Olkin [v1] Tue, 3 Sep 2013 20:50:47 GMT (380kb)