Pluto's atmosphere was more than predictable

The new model, created by a group of scientists led by Justin Erwin, lead author of the study and a PhD from the University of Virginia, predicts that Pluto's atmosphere may reach nearly 10,390 miles into space, which is about 4.5 diameter of Pluto. This is more than half the distance from Pluto to Charon.

The size of Pluto's atmosphere consisting of methane, nitrogen and carbon monoxide, is changing as we approach the dwarf planet to the Sun, as the increase in temperature leads to the evaporation of the ice. Scientists try to estimate the size of Pluto's atmosphere now, so that the team comes to him in 2015 by NASA spacecraft New Horizons - which will measure the size of the dwarf planet and its atmosphere - it was clear about where to look for the gaseous envelope of Pluto.

Study was approved for publication in the journal Icarus.