{"id":861844,"date":"2025-07-11T21:14:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T02:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/11\/a-crazy-idea-proven-true-plutos-breath-changes-its-moons-color\/"},"modified":"2025-07-11T21:14:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T02:14:13","slug":"a-crazy-idea-proven-true-plutos-breath-changes-its-moons-color","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/11\/a-crazy-idea-proven-true-plutos-breath-changes-its-moons-color\/","title":{"rendered":"A \u201cCrazy Idea\u201d Proven True: Pluto\u2019s Breath Changes Its Moon\u2019s Color"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_482256\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-482256\"><a href=\"https:\/\/scitechdaily.com\/images\/NASA-New-Horizonsf-Pluto-Surface-Atmospheric-Haze-scaled.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scitechdaily.com\/images\/NASA-New-Horizonsf-Pluto-Surface-Atmospheric-Haze-777x319.jpg\" alt=\"NASA New Horizonsf Pluto Surface Atmospheric Haze\" width=\"777\" height=\"319\"  ><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-482256\">NASA\u2019s New Horizons spacecraft captured this image of Pluto\u2019s surface shrouded in atmospheric haze. Credit: NASA\/JHUAPL\/SwRI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><span aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"\n\n<div class=glossaryItemTitle>Pluto<\/div>\n<div class=glossaryItemBody>Pluto is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond Neptune. Discovered by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh in 1930, it was originally considered the ninth planet from the Sun. Its status as a planet was questioned after other similar size objects were discovered in the Kuiper belt, and in 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially reclassified it as a dwarf planet.<\/div>\n<p>&#8221; data-gt-translate-attributes=&#8221;[{&#8220;attribute&#8221;:&#8221;data-cmtooltip&#8221;, &#8220;format&#8221;:&#8221;html&#8221;}]&#8221; tabindex=&#8221;0&#8243; role=&#8221;link&#8221;>Pluto<\/span>\u2019s haze is real, its atmosphere is wild, and its moon is stealing its breath\u2014literally. And it might just teach us about life\u2019s earliest days on Earth.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pluto\u2019s atmosphere is packed with tiny particles of nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide that absorb sunlight, cool off, then radiate heat, managing the dwarf planet\u2019s entire energy budget.<\/li>\n<li><span aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"\n\n<div class=glossaryItemTitle>James Webb Space Telescope<\/div>\n<div class=glossaryItemBody>The James Webb Space Telescope is NASA\u2019s most powerful space observatory, launched in 2021 to study the universe\u2019s earliest galaxies, exoplanets, and cosmic structures. It observes in the infrared spectrum, allowing it to peer through dust clouds and detect light from over 13 billion years ago. JWST is a joint effort by NASA, ESA, and the Canadian Space Agency.<\/div>\n<p>&#8221; data-gt-translate-attributes=&#8221;[{&#8220;attribute&#8221;:&#8221;data-cmtooltip&#8221;, &#8220;format&#8221;:&#8221;html&#8221;}]&#8221; tabindex=&#8221;0&#8243; role=&#8221;link&#8221;>James Webb Space Telescope<\/span> data confirm this unusual heat exchange, making Pluto\u2019s sky unlike any other atmosphere we know in the solar system.<\/li>\n<li>Studying this \u201chaze-powered\u201d climate could reveal how early Earth stayed livable when our planet carried almost no oxygen and was rich in nitrogen and hydrocarbons.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Webb Telescope Unveils Pluto\u2019s Strange Surface Dynamics<\/h4>\n<p><span aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"\n\n<div class=glossaryItemTitle>NASA<\/div>\n<div class=glossaryItemBody>NASA is the United States&#039; space agency, responsible for civil space exploration, aeronautics research, and Earth science. Founded in 1958, it has led missions to the Moon, Mars, and the outer planets, and currently operates the International Space Station with global partners.<\/div>\n<p>&#8221; data-gt-translate-attributes=&#8221;[{&#8220;attribute&#8221;:&#8221;data-cmtooltip&#8221;, &#8220;format&#8221;:&#8221;html&#8221;}]&#8221; tabindex=&#8221;0&#8243; role=&#8221;link&#8221;>NASA<\/span>\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope (<a href=\"https:\/\/scitechdaily.com\/astronomy-astrophysics-101-james-webb-space-telescope\/\">JWST<\/a>) has delivered a stunning new look at Pluto, revealing dramatic activity on its distant surface. Scientists observed seasonal shifts in icy material moving across the landscape\u2014and even more surprisingly, particles from Pluto\u2019s atmosphere appear to be drifting through space and settling onto its largest moon, Charon. This eerie exchange of gases between worlds is something we\u2019ve never seen anywhere else in the solar system.<\/p>\n<p>These fascinating discoveries are part of a series of studies published this spring by an international team of researchers. For one scientist on the team, Xi Zhang of UC Santa Cruz, the findings are especially rewarding. The latest study, published June 2 in <em>Nature Astronomy<\/em>, confirms a bold prediction he made years ago about Pluto\u2019s unusual atmosphere, first sparked by data from <a href=\"https:\/\/scitechdaily.com\/nasas-new-horizons-pluto-flyby-begins\/\">NASA\u2019s 2015 New Horizons flyby<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, Pluto had already been reclassified from a planet to a dwarf planet, but interest in its complex features only grew. That 2015 flyby offered our closest-ever view of this icy world, located at the outer edge of the solar system.<\/p>\n<h4>The Birth of a Wild Hypothesis<\/h4>\n<p>In the wake of New Horizons\u2019 observations of Pluto, Zhang published <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/nature24465\">a paper<\/a> in 2017 that hypothesized that Pluto\u2019s atmosphere was dominated by haze particles, which would\u2019ve made it completely different from other atmospheres in the solar system. Zhang, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences, posited that these haze particles heat up and cool down, controlling the whole energy balance in Pluto\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a crazy idea,\u201d said Zhang, adding that many of his peers at the time expressed skepticism. But he and his co-authors also made a clear prediction in their 2017 paper: If the haze is cooling Pluto, it should be emitting strong mid-infrared radiation, and that should be observable once a big and powerful enough telescope was available to astronomers.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_148278\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-148278\"><a href=\"https:\/\/scitechdaily.com\/images\/Ariane-5-Rocket-Launches-Webb-Space-Telescope.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scitechdaily.com\/images\/Ariane-5-Rocket-Launches-Webb-Space-Telescope-777x995.jpg\" alt=\"Ariane 5 Rocket Launches Webb Space Telescope\" width=\"777\" height=\"995\"  ><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-148278\">Arianespace\u2019s Ariane 5 rocket launches with NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope onboard, December 25, 2021, from the ELA-3 Launch Zone of Europe\u2019s Spaceport at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST or Webb) is a large infrared telescope with a 21.3 foot (6.5 meter) primary mirror. The observatory will study every phase of cosmic history\u2014from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe. Credit: NASA\/Bill Ingalls<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That moment arrived on Christmas Day 2021, when <a href=\"https:\/\/scitechdaily.com\/successful-launch-of-nasas-webb-telescope-unprecedented-mission-to-see-first-galaxies-distant-worlds\/\">NASA launched JWST<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/scitechdaily.com\/james-webb-space-telescope-launch-timeline-as-it-happened\/\">into space<\/a> to enable observations that would far surpass those made by its ground-based predecessors over the last several decades. Zhang said the current JWST study was motivated by his 2017 hypothesis. \u201cWe were really proud, because it confirmed our prediction,\u201d he said. \u201cIn planetary science, it\u2019s not common to have a hypothesis confirmed so quickly, within just a few years. So we feel pretty lucky and very excited.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>A Hazy, Alien World<\/h4>\n<p>The Pluto flyby in 2015 revealed a world with surprising landscapes, marked by complex topography\u2014basins, mountains, and valleys\u2014ongoing geological activity like nitrogen (N\u2082) and methane (CH\u2084) glaciers, and a chemically rich atmosphere containing volatile compounds such as N\u2082, CH\u2084, and carbon monoxide. Pluto\u2019s hazy atmosphere formed from coupled methane and nitrogen photochemistry, similar to the haze around <span aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"\n\n<div class=glossaryItemTitle>Saturn<\/div>\n<div class=glossaryItemBody>Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun, famous for its stunning ring system made of ice and rock particles. It is a gas giant composed mostly of hydrogen and helium.<\/div>\n<p>&#8221; data-gt-translate-attributes=&#8221;[{&#8220;attribute&#8221;:&#8221;data-cmtooltip&#8221;, &#8220;format&#8221;:&#8221;html&#8221;}]&#8221; tabindex=&#8221;0&#8243; role=&#8221;link&#8221;>Saturn<\/span>\u2019s moon Titan.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast, Charon was shown to lack an atmosphere and have a more uniform surface dominated by water ice mixed with ammonia-based compounds. Its darker, reddish polar regions are thought to result from the capture and chemical transformation of CH\u2084 molecules escaping from Pluto\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n<h4>Thermal Light Curves and Icy Clues<\/h4>\n<p>The recent observations with JWST provide a fresh look at this distant system. As reported in the series of papers published this spring, for the first time, the telescope\u2019s <span aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"\n\n<div class=glossaryItemTitle>MIRI<\/div>\n<div class=glossaryItemBody>MIRI, or the Mid-Infrared Instrument, is one of the four main scientific instruments aboard the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). It is designed to observe the universe in the mid-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. MIRI&#039;s capabilities allow it to study phenomena such as newly forming stars within dust clouds, the formation of planets around other stars, and the physical and chemical properties of galaxies in the early universe. Equipped with both a camera and a spectrograph, MIRI provides unique data by capturing detailed images and spectra. Its observations are vital for understanding celestial objects that are otherwise obscured in visible light due to dust.<\/div>\n<p>&#8221; data-gt-translate-attributes=&#8221;[{&#8220;attribute&#8221;:&#8221;data-cmtooltip&#8221;, &#8220;format&#8221;:&#8221;html&#8221;}]&#8221; tabindex=&#8221;0&#8243; role=&#8221;link&#8221;>MIRI<\/span> instrument enabled separate measurements of the mid-infrared thermal emission from Pluto and Charon in the form of light curves at 18, 21, and 25 \u00b5m.<\/p>\n<p>Then, in May 2023, the instrument captured a high-quality mid-infrared spectrum (4.9\u201327 \u03bcm) of Pluto and its atmosphere. This spectral range, previously unexplored due to the insufficient sensitivity of earlier instruments, revealed unexpected chemical richness that led to a better understanding of atmospheric processes and the origin of Pluto\u2019s ices.<\/p>\n<h4>New Revelations About Pluto\u2019s Climate Engine<\/h4>\n<p>The JWST light curves also revealed variations in surface thermal radiation by Pluto and Charon during their rotation. By comparing these data with thermal models, the researchers were able to place strong constraints on the thermal inertia, emissivity, and temperature of different regions of Pluto and Charon. These properties are what drive the global ice distributions on Pluto and the exodus of atmospheric molecules to Charon.<\/p>\n<p>The new JWST data also confirmed a second prediction, made by Zhang\u2019s former Ph.D. student Linfeng Wan, another co-author of the <em>Nature Astronomy<\/em> paper. The new observations agree well with the central prediction in <a href=\"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.3847\/1538-4357\/ace9d5\/meta\">their 2023 study<\/a> of Charon\u2019s rotational light-curve amplitude.<\/p>\n<h4>Cosmic Haze and Earth\u2019s Ancient Echo<\/h4>\n<p>\u201cPluto sits in a really unique spot in the range of how planetary atmospheres behave. So this gives us a chance to expand our understanding of how haze behaves in extreme environments,\u201d Zhang explained. \u201cAnd it\u2019s not just Pluto\u2014we know that <span aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"\n\n<div class=glossaryItemTitle>Neptune<\/div>\n<div class=glossaryItemBody>Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the most distant known major planet in the Solar System. It has a dynamic atmosphere with fast winds, dark storms, and high-pressure systems.<\/div>\n<p>&#8221; data-gt-translate-attributes=&#8221;[{&#8220;attribute&#8221;:&#8221;data-cmtooltip&#8221;, &#8220;format&#8221;:&#8221;html&#8221;}]&#8221; tabindex=&#8221;0&#8243; role=&#8221;link&#8221;>Neptune<\/span>\u2019s moon Triton and Saturn\u2019s moon Titan also have similar nitrogen and hydrocarbon atmospheres full of haze particles. So we need to rethink their roles, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And, Zhang added, there\u2019s an even deeper connection. \u201cBefore oxygen built up in Earth\u2019s atmosphere, about 2.4 billion years ago, life already existed. But back then, Earth\u2019s atmosphere was totally different\u2014no oxygen, mostly nitrogen, and a lot of hydrocarbon chemistry,\u201d he said. \u201cSo by studying Pluto\u2019s haze and chemistry, we might get new insights into the conditions that made early Earth habitable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reference: \u201cEvidence of haze control of Pluto\u2019s atmospheric heat balance from JWST\/MIRI thermal light curves\u201d by Tanguy Bertrand, Emmanuel Lellouch, Bryan Holler, John Stansberry, Ian Wong, Xi Zhang, Panayotis Lavvas, Elodie Dufaux, Frederic Merlin, Geronimo Villanueva, Linfeng Wan, Noem\u00ed Pinilla-Alonso, Ana Carolina de Souza Feliciano and Katherine Murray, 2 June 2025, <i>Nature Astronomy<\/i>.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41550-025-02573-z\">DOI: 10.1038\/s41550-025-02573-z<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For the <em>Nature Astronomy<\/em> paper, Zhang and his former Ph.D. student Linfeng Wan contributed theoretical modeling to interpret the JWST data, calculating the thermal spectra and re-evaluating the cooling rates of Pluto\u2019s atmosphere. The team behind the series of papers was led by researchers from the Laboratory for Instrumentation and Research in Astrophysics, at the Paris Observatory, and the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne.<\/p>\n<p><b>Never miss a breakthrough: <a href=\"https:\/\/scitechdaily.com\/newsletter\/\">Join the SciTechDaily newsletter.<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> Mike Pe\u00f1a, University of California, Santa Cruz<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/scitechdaily.com\/a-crazy-idea-proven-true-plutos-breath-changes-its-moons-color\/\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NASA\u2019s New Horizons spacecraft captured this image of Pluto\u2019s surface shrouded in atmospheric haze. Credit: NASA\/JHUAPL\/SwRI Pluto\u2019s haze is real, its atmosphere is wild, and its moon is stealing its breath\u2014literally. And it might just teach us about life\u2019s earliest days on Earth. Pluto\u2019s atmosphere is packed with tiny particles of nitrogen, methane, and carbon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":861845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1005,115070],"tags":[8816,11554],"class_list":{"0":"post-861844","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crazy","8":"category-idea","9":"tag-crazy","10":"tag-idea"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=861844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}