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Astronomers believe they’ve detected an atmosphere around a tiny, icy world beyond Pluto - NBC News
Overview
A new study reports evidence for an extremely thin atmosphere around a small, icy world beyond Pluto, measured at roughly 5–10 million times thinner than Earth's. The tenuous layer may have formed from cryovolcanic eruptions or from volatile material released by a comet impact, though the cause is not yet certain. The recent finding that Neptune’s moon Nereid may be an intact survivor of an ancient collision underscores that distant small bodies can retain unexpected features and complex histories, suggesting these disparate discoveries together reveal greater diversity in the outer solar system.
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