Post by Udeze Nestor (@Nesmoore1)

🌚 A blue sky… on Pluto!

In this image from the *New Horizons* spacecraft, we see a thin blue rim—a haze in Pluto’s atmosphere. Even this distant dwarf planet has an atmosphere: one that is thin, cold, and—at first glance—nothing like Earth’s.

Yet, it is the color that reveals an unexpected resemblance to Earth. Our sky is blue due to the scattering of sunlight by nitrogen and oxygen molecules. On Pluto, however, the blue hue arises for a different reason: sunlight triggers chemical reactions within the nitrogen and methane atmosphere, producing tiny particles known as tholins. These particles scatter blue light, creating that delicate blue halo.

🌙

0 likes · 0 comments · 0 shares