Astronomers detect thin atmosphere around 2002 XV93 beyond Pluto
Astronomers just found a thin atmosphere around 2002 XV93, a small icy object way out past Pluto.
They caught it by watching the object pass in front of a distant star: basically, they noticed the starlight bending as it slipped through a layer of gas.
This is pretty unexpected, since scientists didn't think such small bodies could hold onto an atmosphere.
Small body has 100-200 nanobar atmosphere
At about a radius of roughly 250km, 2002 XV93's atmosphere is super thin, just 100 to 200 nanobars of pressure.
Earlier searches on bigger objects turned up nothing, so this find has experts rethinking what's possible.
Scientists think things like ice volcanoes or cosmic impacts might be topping up the gasses here.
The big takeaway: there could be more tiny worlds with atmospheres out there, changing how we understand our solar system's farthest reaches.
(Published in Nature.)