Pluto undergoing Global Warming

CNN ^ | 8/20/02 | Richard Stenger

[wbill]

(CNN) -- Pluto could be experiencing a warming trend on the surface and a cooling trend in the atmosphere, according to planetary scientists.

Astronomers made the deduction based on observations of a recent stellar eclipse when Pluto passed in front of the light of star P126A.

When the planet eclipsed another star in 1998, the starlight went out quickly. During the July event, the light dimmed slowly as Pluto passed in front.

By studying the starlight, scientists estimated the density, pressure and temperature of Pluto's atmosphere.

"In the last 14 years, one or more changes have occurred," said Marc Buie of Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. "Pluto's atmosphere is undergoing global cooling, while other data indicates that the surface seems to be getting slightly warmer.

"Change is inevitable as Pluto moves away from the sun, but what we're seeing is more complex than expected," said Buie, who with James Elliot of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported the findings last week.

Pluto has a highly eccentric orbit and is heading away from the sun to the most distant point in its travels.

Astronomers theorize that during such times Pluto's atmosphere freezes over for more than a century.

The scientists will be able to get more data when Pluto passes in front of another star Tuesday.

Such star eclipses or occultations are becoming more commonplace because Pluto is moving in line with the main band of the Milky Way, where stars are more commonplace.

[wbill]

"Pluto undergoing Global Warming. Republicans, Bush administration, Big Oil Corporations at fault."

"What did Bush know and when did he know it", asks Senator Clinton.

/sarcasm off.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

"Pluto in the Balance"

-By Al Gore-

[TADSLOS]

Damned Plutonian SUVs!!

[KellyAdmirer]

Too many Plutonians driving SUV's.

[Consort]

Space heaters out of control.

[LaBradford22]

This is all the fault of the Bush Administration, Big Oil, and Republicans driving their SUVs. We need to immediately get a government agency together to study this. Get Greenpeace, the EPA, and the UN on the phone right away!

[Restorer]

Strongly suspect that the "warming" in question is a very relative thing!

[TC Rider]

Something Goofy going on here.

[meowmeow]

Time to send algore and our top global warming experts out there to assess the situation!

[Guillermo]

The Evilness of Bush and the Zionists even extends to the outer reaches of our solar system...

[Zathras]

This of course is all the fault of the Regan Administration.

[wbill]

LOL !

My thoughts exactly.

Ummmm.....you don't suppose that they'd want to come back, do you?

[Paul Atreides]

Well, everyone knows that Pluto is a Republican enclave.

[Paul Atreides]

Not to mention all of those Plutonian cows, breaking wind.

[YourAdHere]

Any way the tree-huggers can blame us? LOL.

[RightWhale]

NASA wanted to launch the Pluto-Kuiper probe soon because the atmosphere will be freezing out and precipitating onto the surface in the next few years. The atmosphere won't return until next century. If this opportunity is missed it will be several generations until there is another.

[Destructor]

Those Plutonians must stop running Air Conditioners, spraying florocarbons, and driving SUVs before it's too late!

[tophat9000]

Many astronomers believe Pluto is not a planet ... but a Goofy moon

[Prodigal Son]

Global Warming On Pluto is a UN Hoax! (reverse spin humor ;-)

[elephantlips]

The sooner the better. This whole greenhouse gases situation needs investigating. Which nations are in violation and causing these egregious conditions? Inquiring minds want to know.