Haze in Pluto's Atmosphere
Andrew F. Cheng, Michael E. Summers, G. Randall Gladstone, Darrell F., Strobel, Leslie A. Young, Panayotis Lavvas, Joshua A. Kammer, Carey M. Lisse,, Alex H. Parker, Eliot F. Young, S. Alan Stern, Harold A. Weaver, Cathy B., Olkin, Kimberley Ennico

TL;DR
This study analyzes haze layers in Pluto's atmosphere using data from New Horizons, revealing their structure, composition, and potential formation mechanisms, and discusses their impact on surface properties.
Contribution
It provides the first detailed microphysical and dynamical model of Pluto's atmospheric haze, integrating observational data with new theoretical insights.
Findings
Haze extends up to 200 km altitude with about 20 layers.
Haze extinction is greater in the northern hemisphere.
Haze particles are predominantly 0.5 μm spherical and fractal aggregates.
Abstract
Haze in Pluto's atmosphere was detected in images by both the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) and the Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) on New Horizons. LORRI observed haze up to altitudes of at least 200 km above Pluto's surface at solar phase angles from ~20{\deg} to ~169{\deg}. The haze is structured with about ~20 layers, and the extinction due to haze is greater in the northern hemisphere than at equatorial or southern latitudes. However, more haze layers are discerned at equatorial latitudes. A search for temporal variations found no evidence for motions of haze layers (temporal changes in layer altitudes) on time scales of 2 to 5 hours, but did find evidence of changes in haze scale height above 100 km altitude. An ultraviolet extinction attributable to the atmospheric haze was also detected by the ALICE ultraviolet spectrograph on New Horizons. The haze…
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