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Observations of the Pluto-Charon system, acquired with the ALMA interferometer on June 12-13, 2015, have yielded a detection of the CO(3-2) and HCN(4-3) rotational transitions from Pluto, providing a strong confirmation of the presence of…

IRTF/SpeX observations of Pluto's near-infrared reflectance spectrum during 2013 show vibrational absorption features of CO and N$_2$ ices at 1.58 and 2.15 {\mu}m, respectively, that are weaker than had been observed during the preceding…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-18 W. M. Grundy , C. B. Olkin , L. A. Young , B. J. Holler

Following the detection of CO and HCN in Pluto's atmosphere, we report on new ALMA observations of Pluto with two main goals: (i) obtaining spatially-resolved measurements (~0.06'' on the ~0.15'' disk subtended by Pluto and its atmosphere)…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2021-11-03 E. Lellouch , B. Butler , R. Moreno , M. Gurwell , P. Lavvas , T. Bertrand , T. Fouchet , D. F. Strobel , A. Moullet

We apply scintillation theory to stellar signal fluctuations in the high-resolution, high signal/noise, dual-wavelength data from the MMT observation of the 2007 March 18 occultation of P445.3 by Pluto. A well-defined high wavenumber cutoff…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-13 W. B. Hubbard , D. W. McCarthy , C. A. Kulesa , S. D. Benecchi , M. J. Person , J. L. Elliot , A. A. S. Gulbis

The NASA New Horizons spacecraft flies past Pluto on July 14, 2015, carrying two instruments that detect charged particles. Pluto has a tenuous, extended atmosphere that is escaping the weak gravity of the planet. The interaction of the…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-10-28 F. Bagenal , P. A. Delamere , H. A. Elliott , M. E. Hill , C. M. Lisse , D. J. McComas , R. L McNutt, , J. D. Richardson , C. W. Smith , D. F. Strobel

The New Horizons spacecraft carried three instruments that measured the space environment near Pluto as it flew by on 14 July 2015. The Solar Wind Around Pluto instrument revealed an interaction region confined sunward of Pluto to within…

We have observed a stellar occultation of GSC5249-01240 by Saturn's north polar region on November 20, 1995 from NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF). This is the first recorded occultation by the polar region of a giant planet. The…

We are reporting on a new accurate photographic light curve of Pluto for 1933-1934 when the heliocentric distance was 40 AU. We used 43 B-band and V-band images of Pluto on 32 plates taken on 15 nights from 19 March 1933 to 10 March 1934.…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-13 Bradley E. Schaefer , Marc W. Buie , Luke Timothy Smith

The Pluto system was recently explored by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, making closest approach on 14 July 2015. Pluto's surface displays diverse landforms, terrain ages, albedos, colors, and composition gradients. Evidence is found for a…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2021-09-06 S. A. Stern , F. Bagenal , K. Ennico , G. R. Gladstone , W. M. Grundy , W. B. McKinnon , J. M. Moore , C. B. Olkin , J. R. Spencer , H. A. Weaver , L. A. Young , T. Andert , J. Andrews , M. Banks , B. Bauer , J. Bauman , O. S. Barnouin , P. Bedini , K. Beisser , R. A. Beyer , S. Bhaskaran , R. P. Binzel , E. Birath , M. Bird , D. J. Bogan , A. Bowman , V. J. Bray , M. Brozovic , C. Bryan , M. R. Buckley , M. W. Buie , B. J. Buratti , S. S. Bushman , A. Calloway , B. Carcich , A. F. Cheng , S. Conard , C. A. Conrad , J. C. Cook , D. P. Cruikshank , O. S. Custodio , C. M. Dalle Ore , C. Deboy , Z. J. B. Dischner , P. Dumont , A. M. Earle , H. A. Elliott , J. Ercol , C. M. Ernst , T. Finley , S. H. Flanigan , G. Fountain , M. J. Freeze , T. Greathouse , J. L. Green , Y. Guo , M. Hahn , D. P. Hamilton , S. A. Hamilton , J. Hanley , A. Harch , H. M. Hart , C. B. Hersman , A. Hill , M. E. Hill , D. P. Hinson , M. E. Holdridge , M. Horanyi , A. D. Howard , C. J. A. Howett , C. Jackman , R. A. Jacobson , D. E. Jennings , J. A. Kammer , H. K. Kang , D. E. Kaufmann , P. Kollmann , S. M. Krimigis , D. Kusnierkiewicz , T. R. Lauer , J. E. Lee , K. L. Lindstrom , I. R. Linscott , C. M. Lisse , A. W. Lunsford , V. A. Mallder , N. Martin , D. J. McComas , R. L. McNutt , D. Mehoke , T. Mehoke , E. D. Melin , M. Mutchler , D. Nelson , F. Nimmo , J. I. Nunez , A. Ocampo , W. M. Owen , M. Paetzold , B. Page , A. H. Parker , J. W. Parker , F. Pelletier , J. Peterson , N. Pinkine , M. Piquette , S. B. Porter , S. Protopapa , J. Redfern , H. J. Reitsema , D. C. Reuter , J. H. Roberts , S. J. Robbins , G. Rogers , D. Rose , K. Runyon , K. D. Retherford , M. G. Ryschkewitsch , P. Schenk , R. Schindhelm , B. Sepan , M. R. Showalter , K. N. Singer , M. Soluri , D. Stanbridge , A. J. Steffl , D. F. Strobel , T. Stryk , M. E. Summers , J. R. Szalay , M. Tapley , A. Taylor , H. Taylor , H. B. Throop , C. C. C. Tsang , G. L. Tyler , O. M. Umurhan , A. J. Verbiscer , M. H. Versteeg , M. Vincent , R. Webbert , S. Weidner , G. E. Weigle , O. L. White , K. Whittenburg , B. G. Williams , K. Williams , S. Williams , W. W. Woods , A. M. Zangari , E. Zirnstein

Thermal observations of the Pluto-Charon system acquired by the Herschel Space Observatory in February 2012 are presented. They consist of photometric measurements with the PACS and SPIRE instruments (nine visits to the Pluto system each),…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2016-03-23 E. Lellouch , P. Santos-Sanz , S. Fornasier , T. Lim , J. Stansberry , E. Vilenius , Cs. Kiss , T. Müller , G. Marton , S. Protopapa , P. Panuzzo , R. Moreno

The rotational lightcurves of the Pluto-Charon system were previously believed to be solely attributed to their surfaces. However, a proposed scenario of haze cooling \citep{2017Natur.551..352Z} suggests that the atmospheric haze of Pluto…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2023-09-20 Linfeng Wan , Xi Zhang , Jason D. Hofgartner

The surprising discovery by the Rosetta spacecraft of molecular oxygen (O$_2$) in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (Bieler et al. 2015) challenged our understanding of the inventory of this volatile species on and inside bodies…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2017-08-02 J. A. Kammer , S. A. Stern , G. R. Gladstone , L. A. Young , C. B. Olkin , A. Steffl , H. A. Weaver , K. Ennico

Pluto's landscape is shaped by the cycles of the volatile ices covering its surface. In particular, the Sputnik Planitia (SP) ice sheet displays a large diversity of terrains, with bright and dark plains, pits, topographic depressions and…

Haze in Pluto's atmosphere was detected in images by both the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) and the Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) on New Horizons. LORRI observed haze up to altitudes of at least 200 km above Pluto's…

We report on a variety of standard techniques used by New Horizons including a solar ultraviolet occultation, ultraviolet airglow observations, and high-phase look-back particulate search imaging to search for an atmosphere around Pluto's…

The recent detection of an atmosphere surrounding the trans-Neptunian object (TNO) 2002 XV$_{93}$ from stellar occultation measurements has challenged the longstanding view that only the largest TNOs can sustain an atmosphere. Atmospheric…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2026-05-29 Ian Wong , Silvia Protopapa , Emmanuel Lellouch

Context. During the last 30 years the surface of Pluto has been characterized, and its variability has been monitored, through continuous near-infrared spectroscopic observations. But in the visible range only few data are available. Aims.…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2016-01-13 V. Lorenzi , N. Pinilla-Alonso , J. Licandro , D. P. Cruikshank , W. M. Grundy , R. P. Binzel , J. P. Emery

Pluto and its satellites will be the most distant objects ever reconnoitered when NASA's New Horizons spacecraft conducts its intensive flyby of this system in 2015. The size-frequency distribution (SFD) of craters on the surfaces in the…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-23 S. Alan Stern , Simon Porter , Amanda Zangari

In this work we present the results of a spectral observing campaign of Pluto to search for temporal changes in surface composition on 1- to 3-year timescales. Near-infrared spectra of Pluto were obtained from June 2014 to August 2017 with…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2021-11-17 Bryan J. Holler , Maya D. Yanez , Silvia Protopapa , Leslie A. Young , Anne J. Verbiscer , Nancy J. Chanover , William M. Grundy