Is Pluto a planet? New finding calls Pluto’s status into question

Those arguing for Pluto to be classified as a planet just got a stronger case as a new study found Pluto interacts with the stream of particles known as the solar wind more like a planet than a comet.

Published in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Space Physics, the new study is based on data from NASA’s New Horizons probe, which measured material flowing off Pluto and measured how it interacted with the solar wind– a stream of charged particles coming off the Sun.

This is a type of interaction we’ve never seen before anywhere in our solar system,” study author David J. McComas, professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University, said in a news release. “The results are astonishing.”

Astrophysicists have pointed out that they currently have a mountain of data on how Pluto’s atmosphere interfaces with the solar wind. Firing out of the Sun at around 100 million miles per hour, the solar wind bathes planets, asteroids, and comets in charged particles.

New findings are cause for consideration

Many scientists said Pluto interfaces with the stream more like a comet, which causes a mild slowing of the solar wind, not like the sudden disruption caused when the solar wind encounters a planet. The truth is that Pluto is a bit of a hybrid, scientists said.

“These results speak to the power of exploration. Once again we’ve gone to a new kind of place and found ourselves discovering entirely new kinds of expressions in nature,” said Alan Stern, New Horizons investigator from the Southwest Research Institute.

Given its distance from the Sun, around 3.7 billion miles, and its size, researchers had said Pluto’s gravity would not be powerful enough to maintain heavy ions in its extended atmosphere.

“Pluto’s gravity clearly is enough to keep material relatively confined,” McComas said.

The study team also found that Pluto has a long “tail” of ions, about 73,800 miles or nearly three times the circumference of Earth. The team also found that Pluto’s upwind blocking of the solar wind is much smaller than previously thought.

“The range of interaction with the solar wind is quite diverse, and this gives some comparison to help us better understand the connections in our solar system and beyond,” McComas said.

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Image credit: NASA

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