From a temperature perspective, this makes a huge difference. While a haze-free Pluto ought to be at a temperature of 100 K, the Pluto we have is extraordinarily cooler at a mere 70 K.

Journal Reference: Xi Zhang, Darrell F. Strobel, Hiroshi Imanaka. Haze heats Pluto’s atmosphere yet explains its cold temperature. Nature, 2017; 551 (7680): 352 DOI: 10.1038/nature24465 ...

Besides the haze heating the atmospheric molecules so that they can escape, Zhang also realized that the haze could have a cooling effect on Pluto's atmosphere — an effect that had previously ...

On Earth, for example, we know that the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide has a central effect of warming the planet by trapping the sun’s heat. Pluto is different, and it all comes down to soot.

For the dwarf planet Pluto, however, the predicted temperature based on the composition of its atmosphere was much higher than actual measurements taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft in 2015.

But on Earth, the overall temperature of the planet is dominated by the distribution of gases in our atmosphere. On Pluto, the authors suggest, haze might be more influential.

The haze actually absorbs much of the solar energy that it comes into contact with, but also has a habit of beaming that heat back out into space, resulting in a net loss for the surface below.

A Rippling Haze NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has been returning some pretty amazing information about the former planet, Pluto. One of its most interesting discoveries was the weird “layered ...

For the dwarf planet Pluto, however, the predicted temperature based on the composition of its atmosphere was much higher than actual measurements taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft in 2015.

For the dwarf planet Pluto, however, the predicted temperature based on the composition of its atmosphere was much higher than actual measurements taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft in 2015.

While the results stumped researchers at first, the results revealed a haze in Pluto's atmosphere that might be to blame for these unexpectedly-low temperatures. It appears to be made up of nitrogen ...