| Literature DB >> 12853950 |
B Sicardy1, T Widemann, E Lellouch, C Veillet, J-C Cuillandre, F Colas, F Roques, W Beisker, M Kretlow, A-M Lagrange, E Gendron, F Lacombe, J Lecacheux, C Birnbaum, A Fienga, C Leyrat, A Maury, E Raynaud, S Renner, M Schultheis, K Brooks, A Delsanti, O R Hainaut, R Gilmozzi, C Lidman, J Spyromilio, M Rapaport, P Rosenzweig, O Naranjo, L Porras, F Díaz, H Calderón, S Carrillo, A Carvajal, E Recalde, L Gaviria Cavero, C Montalvo, D Barría, R Campos, R Duffard, H Levato.
Abstract
Pluto's tenuous nitrogen atmosphere was first detected by the imprint left on the light curve of a star that was occulted by the planet in 1985 (ref. 1), and studied more extensively during a second occultation event in 1988 (refs 2-6). These events are, however, quite rare and Pluto's atmosphere remains poorly understood, as in particular the planet has not yet been visited by a spacecraft. Here we report data from the first occultations by Pluto since 1988. We find that, during the intervening 14 years, there seems to have been a doubling of the atmospheric pressure, a probable seasonal effect on Pluto.Entities:
Year: 2003 PMID： 12853950 DOI： 10.1038/nature01766
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Nature ISSN： 0028-0836 Impact factor: 49.962