Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21822410s&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #218, #224.10; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Pluto's moon Charon may have a significant atmosphere as a consequence of the gravitational capture of Pluto's extended, escaping atmosphere. Estimates of this capture based process by Charon suggest that it may have a collisionally dominated atmosphere. However, the surface pressure on Charon depends sensitively upon the capture rate and upon Charon's atmospheric temperature. For the lowest estimate of capture rate, 1.9 x 1024 molecules s-1, based upon Strobel's Pluto escape rate calculation (Strobel, 2008), Charon will have a collisionally thick atmosphere if its atmospheric temperature is < 50K. For the higher Pluto escape rates of Tian and Toon (2005) of 2.4 x 1025 s-1, Charon will have a collisionally thick atmosphere for atmospheric temperatures < 60K. As we show, observations of Charon's atmosphere can be used to provide an indirect measure of Pluto's atmospheric escape rate.
Saxena Prabal
Summers M.
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