Scientists studying a distant region of the solar system near Pluto have discovered the unexpected: a minuscule object with its own atmosphere. It was previously believed that such small celestial bodies located that far from the Sun were incapable of having their own atmospheres. Now, the new finding could unlock insights into planets in our solar system millions of miles away.
The 310-mile-wide celestial body, officially named 2002 XV93, is classified as a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) because its distance from the Sun – approximately 3.5 billion miles (5.6 billion kilometres) – lies beyond the outermost planet, Neptune, according to Japanese astronomers in a study published in the journal Nature Astronomy. And although the icy body was identified many years ago, only now has it been observed to be “swaddled in a layer of air”, said The New York Times.
Because a TNO shouldn’t have one, the discovery of the atmosphere could offer an “unprecedented glimpse” into how one “forms and remains around a small object”, as well as “change how astronomers think about objects”, said CNN. And it suggests that “some small icy bodies in the outer solar system may not be completely inactive or unchanging, as previously assumed”, lead study researcher Ko Arimatsu, the head of Japan’s National Astronomical Observatory told Reuters. “Even in a distant, cold world there are dynamisms we haven’t imagined,” added study co-author Junichi Watanabe, the director of Japan’s Koyama Space Science Institute.
The “implications are profound if verified”, Alan Stern, the scientist behind Nasa’s New Horizons mission to Pluto, told AP. The researchers who made the discovery are optimistic. “It changes our view of small worlds in the solar system, not only beyond Neptune,” Arimatsu explained to the outlet. The finding is “genuinely surprising”. |
