Do Pluto and Charon Share the Same Atmosphere?

Artist's conception of Pluto and Charon. Image Credit: ESO
Artist’s conception of Pluto and Charon. Image Credit: ESO

Atmospheres are, of course, a common feature of planets and even some moons. Most of the planets in our Solar System and a few moons have their own unique atmospheres, but now there may be evidence for something new: a shared atmosphere between a planet and moon, a situation never seen before.

The dwarf planet Pluto is known to have a thin nitrogen atmosphere, and now new computer simulations suggest that it may be sharing that atmosphere with its largest moon, Charon. A very interesting finding if confirmed by the New Horizons probe due to reach Pluto in the summer of 2015.

Back in the 1980s it was thought that the two bodies might be able to exchanges gases, since Charon, which is almost half the size of Pluto, orbits much closer than our Moon does to Earth. If Pluto’s atmosphere was mostly methane, as seemed reasonable, that might just work. It turned out, however, from later studies that Pluto’s atmosphere is actually composed mostly of nitrogen, which would most likely be too heavy to escape from Pluto.

So far, our best views of Pluto are still very fuzzy. New Horizons will give us our first clear close-up views of this world. Image Credit: NASA/JPL
So far, our best views of Pluto are still very fuzzy. New Horizons will give us our first clear close-up look at this intriguing world. Image Credit: NASA/JPL

As Robert Johnson at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville notes, “People thought that even if Charon did gain an atmosphere through this process, it was too thin to ever detect.”

The new studies use updated models of Pluto’s upper atmosphere, which indicate that it may be warmer than previously thought and up to three times thicker. If so, it could extend far enough into space to be pulled in by Charon’s gravity, giving the moon a tenuous atmosphere as well.

Pluto and Charon would then be essentially sharing the same atmosphere. Such a phenomenon has never been observed before; hopefully New Horizons will be able to answer this question when it passes by Pluto and its moons in 2015.

“It’s thought to happen all the time in astronomy, such as in the case of binary stars or exoplanets located close to their stars,” says Johnson. “Calculations and computer models are one thing. But here we have a spacecraft that’s going to fly by and directly test our simulations, which is quite exciting.”

If Charon is found to have a thin atmosphere, it is also possible that it could come from within the moon’s interior through vents in the surface, something like Saturn’s moon Enceladus and possibly also Jupiter’s moon Europa. That would also be an exciting discovery, but even if Charon is just “borrowing” Pluto’s atmosphere, it will be a chance to observe a process never seen before in planetary exploration.

Besides Charon, Pluto is known to have at least four other moonsNix, Hydra, Kerberos, and Styxwhich are all much smaller than Charon. The Pluto-Charon system is also sometimes referred to as a binary planetary system, given their sizes and close proximity to each other.

More information is available from Icarus here and here (for a purchase fee). More information about the New Horizons spacecraft and its journey to Pluto is available here.

Want to keep up-to-date with all things space? Be sure to “Like” AmericaSpace on Facebook and follow us on Twitter:@AmericaSpace

Missions » New Horizons »

7 Comments

  1. ken is right, Ted……lol…..left navigation bar on my art page will show you all the subpages……thanks for visiting my cybergallery…..*s*

    PS: I saw the launch of New Horizons. It was awesome!

  2. Whatever the New Horizon discovers, the knowledge gleaned from the mission will “complete” the initial survey of all the planets of our solar system (yes, count me in the “Pluto is a planet” camp), It will also be a testament to the engineering and scientific achievement of the men and women dedicated to find out “what’s out there.”

Date With an Alligator: The Trials of Gemini IX-A (Part 2)

Ongoing Engine Failure Investigation Forces Orbital Sciences to Delay Upcoming ISS Resupply Flight a Second Time