Atmospheres of Solar System Moons and Pluto

TL;DR

This paper reviews the diverse atmospheres of Solar System bodies beyond the terrestrial and giant planets, focusing on their physical, chemical, and environmental characteristics, including origins, losses, and influencing factors.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive synthesis of the key features and processes of atmospheres on moons and Pluto, highlighting recent insights and the roles of surface ices, hazes, and space environments.

Findings

Identifies four distinct climate regimes in Solar System atmospheres.

Details the physical and chemical processes shaping these atmospheres.

Highlights the influence of surface ices, hazes, and space environments.

Abstract

The atmospheres within our Solar System can be categorized into four distinct climate regimes: "terrestrial", "Jovian", "condensable", and "exosphere". Beyond the three terrestrial planets (excluding Mercury) and the four giant planets, collisional atmospheres are also found on smaller celestial bodies such as Jupiter's moon Io, Saturn's moon Titan, Neptune's moon Triton, and Pluto. This article reviews the key characteristics of these atmospheres and the underlying physical and chemical processes that govern them. I focus on their thermal structures, chemical constituents, wind patterns, and the origins and losses of the atmospheres, and highlight the critical roles of surface ices and liquids, atmospheric hazes, and the space environments of their host planets in shaping these atmospheres. I dedicated this article to Prof. Zuo Xiao (1936-2024) at Peking University.