Pluto, which is the farthest dwarf planet from the Sun (it is between 30 and 50 times the distance from Earth to the Sun) is also the coldest planet in the solar system. But even though it is so far away, its temperature changes enough during its orbit. In fact, this change in temperature has a significant impact on the planet.
Temperature change
All planets have seasonal changes in temperature. However, in some the changes are more extreme than in others. At its warmest, when it is closest to the Sun, Pluto can reach temperatures of minus 223 degrees Celsius. In contrast, at its coldest point, temperatures drop to approximately minus 233 degrees.
Also, when NASA toured the dwarf planet in 2015, they discovered that it had a thin atmosphere made up of nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide. However, the atmosphere is most likely to change as Pluto orbits the Sun. When the distance from Pluto to the Sun is minimal, the temperature is warm enough for the ice to sublimate directly into gas. In this way its thin atmosphere is created.
As Pluto moves away from the Sun, the gases refreeze and the atmosphere disappears completely. Furthermore, the methane in Pluto’s atmosphere acts as a greenhouse gas, causing the temperature at the top of the atmosphere to be much higher than at the surface.
On the other hand, Pluto’s core is made up of ice . In addition, various investigations show that its surface is very young. This suggests that the planet could have been warm enough to host an ocean inside.
Pluto is in an area known as the Kuiper Belt. When Pluto was classified as a planet, it was the coldest of the nine. However, in 2006 Pluto was reclassified and became a dwarf planet due to its mass.
