The very long history of one of the smallest and furthest away object in our solar system, Pluto may have its planet status reinstated after it was revoked back in 2006. The reason behind that was a nearly unanimous vote that due to Pluto’s size and position in the solar system, along with the discovery of several other small planets displaying similar features in what was later called the Kuiper Belt. Instead, it became a dwarf planet in accordance to the 424 astronomers who attended the meeting of the International Astronomical Union in Prague in 2006.
Ever since New Horizons probe’s flyby of Pluto that was done in the summer of 2015, new data is being extracted from the wide variety of images that were captured from various altitudes and positions. Along with its floating glaciers in the Sputnik Planum and wildly diverse geological formation, a more recent observation that scientists made when studying the images of Pluto may just be the first step towards reinstating it as a planet.
A particular image displaying the surface of the dark Pluto from an angle shows the very thin layer that is its atmosphere. However, the detail that brought a considerable amount of debate regarding the image in question is the presence of several wispy areas on the very edge of the atmosphere; almost as if there were clouds present on Pluto. Scientists have called them ‘extremely bright low altitude limb haze’ instead, as it is not yet certain what the exact nature of those masses is.
Researchers on the New Horizons project believe that they are composed of nitrogen, methane as well as other gases otherwise existent in Pluto’s atmosphere.
This does not, however, bring direct evidence that Pluto should once again be considered a full-fledged planet as it does not pertain to any of the requirements that scientists have decided are necessary in order for a space object to be considered one.
Pluto is a very unusual object in our solar system, displaying an elliptical orbit that takes it 248 Earth years to complete. It is a lot more elongated than the orbits of the other eight planets in our solar system, as well as displaying an inclination of 17 degrees in relation to the other orbits present. While Pluto fulfills the basic requirements, it acts as if is being pulled away by a different object, straying from the normal orbit around the Sun.
If the discovery of ‘clouds’ turns out to be true, scientists may consider rephrasing the requirements that an object must present in order to be considered a planet, and as a result, Pluto being reinstated as the 9th planet of our solar system.
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Deborah Campbell
