A Tiny World Beyond Neptune Has An Atmosphere That Shouldn’t Be Possible
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Four billion miles from the Sun, astronomers found an atmosphere around a frozen world only about 310 miles wide. The problem is that it shouldn’t be able to keep one. 2002 XV93 has such weak gravity that its atmosphere should escape into space in hundreds to roughly 1,000 years — yet the object itself has existed for about 4.5 billion years. Then James Webb made the mystery even stranger. Astronomers searched for methane and carbon monoxide, two of the most obvious gases that could explain the detection. Neither appeared at the levels expected. So where is the atmosphere coming from? A recent collision may have exposed volatile ice, or this tiny frozen world could still be releasing material from its interior. And unlike many astronomical mysteries, this one may actually be solved soon. The next stellar occultations could reveal whether the atmosphere is disappearing — or continuously being replaced. -- DISCUSSIONS & SOCIAL MEDIA Commercial Purposes: insanecuriositybusiness@g
Tags: insane curiosity, space, science, astronomy, trans Neptunian object, TNO atmosphere, Kuiper Belt, Kuiper Belt object, atmosphere beyond Neptune, tiny world atmosphere, James Webb Space Telescope, stellar occultation, Neptune, Pluto, plutino, mysterious atmosphere, icy world, dwarf planet science, planetary atmosphere, occultation astronomy
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