High Noon on Pluto: What’s it Like?

Get Ready for Pluto

As the New Horizons spacecraft enters its final five-week dash to Pluto, the news hits just keep rolling in. Yesterday, I talked about the tumbling moons affected by the orbits of Pluto and Charon. I expect we’ll find more information about them as the spacecraft gets closer, plus some more new images to whet our appetites for all things Pluto.  Five weeks from now, it will be Pluto Partay time, for sure!

Have you ever wondered what it is like on the surface there? Of course, we already know that it’s icy and cold. The presence of nitrogen ice on the surface tells us it’s cold enough on Pluto to freeze this gas (which happens at -195.8 C). The mean surface temperature at Pluto is -229 C (44 K), and that’s mighty cold.  The atmosphere, while thin, is mostly nitrogen, with contributions from methane and carbon monoxide. As Pluto moves away from the Sun in its 248-year orbit, most of that atmosphere will “freeze out” and fall to the ground as a frost. So, it’s pretty clear things are distinctly chilly at the planet.

The Sun doesn’t do a lot to warm things up. It’s too far away to provide the kind of heat we take for granted here on Earth.  And, due to that distance, days aren’t as bright on Pluto as they are here on warm, comfy Earth. Now, New Horizons isn’t going to land on Pluto; it’s a flyby mission. And, it will be a long time before anybody has the chance to send people to Pluto. But, there is a way to experience Pluto’s lighting conditions for yourself. It’s called “Pluto Time”.  You have at least two Pluto times each day: just before dawn and right after sunset. They’re the time when the lighting conditions where you are will be just like it is at noon on Pluto.  It’s easy to do; just go to the Pluto Time web page at NASA and follow the directions. In  less than a minute, you’ll know when the next “Pluto Time” at your location occurs. You can take a picture of what Pluto Time looks like wherever you are and share it with others, too. I encourage you to check the page out; you’ll be surprised at what you find out about how bright/dim it is at this distant dwarf planet.