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A tiny world beyond Neptune has an atmosphere that shouldn't exist

phys.org·National Institutes of Natural Sciences·29 days ago
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Artist's conception of this research showing an imagined time sequence as a star passes behind a TNO with an atmosphere. Credit: NAOJ A team of professional and amateur Japanese astronomers have found evidence for a thin atmosphere around a small body in the outer solar system. The object is so small that it should not have a sustainable atmosphere, raising questions about when and how the atmosphere formed. Future observations to better characterize the atmosphere will help solve these mysteries. In the cold reaches of the outer solar system lie thousands of small objects known as trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) because they lie outside the orbit of Neptune. A thin atmosphere has been observed around Pluto, the most famous TNO, but studies of other TNOs have yielded negative results. Most TNOs are so cold, and their surface gravity so weak, that they are not expected to retain atmospheres.…

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