• A team of Indian and international scientists have derived the accurate value of Pluto’s atmospheric pressure at its surface. It is more than 80,000 times less than the atmospheric pressure at mean sea level on Earth.

• The pressure was calculated from data obtained by observation of stellar occultation by Pluto on June 6, 2020 using 3.6-m Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT) and 1.3-m Devasthal Fast Optical Telescope (DFOT) located at Devasthal, Nainital.

• In astronomy, an occultation happens when a celestial object gets hidden from the view of the observer due to another celestial object passing in between them. A compilation of 12 stellar occultations by Pluto observed between 1988 and 2016 showed a three-fold monotonic increase of atmospheric pressure during this period.

• An international team of scientists, including members from Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), used signal-to-noise ratio light curves obtained from the sophisticated instruments used in the observations to derive an accurate value of Pluto’s atmospheric pressure at its surface. 

• It was found to be 12.23 μbar — 80,000 times less than the atmospheric pressure at mean sea level on Earth. They also found that the pressure at the surface is close to the seasonal peak of Pluto. 

• The research published in ‘Astrophysical Journal Letters (ApJL)’ showed that since mid-2015, Pluto’s atmosphere is in a plateau phase close to peak and is in excellent agreement with the model values calculated earlier by the Pluto volatile transport model in 2019.

• The study also confirms earlier findings that Pluto suffers intense seasonal episodes because of large depression on Pluto, known as Sputnik Planitia. 

• Pluto’s poles remain, for decades, in permanent sunlight or darkness over its 248-year long orbital period leading to strong effects on its Nitrogen (N2) atmosphere that is mainly controlled by vapour pressure equilibrium with the surface N2 ice. 

• Moreover, as Pluto is now moving away from the Galactic plane as seen from Earth, stellar occultations by the dwarf planet are becoming increasingly rare, making this event a decisive one.

Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT)

• Devasthal is a picturesque mountain peak in Uttarakhand. The world-class 3.6-m Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT) set up at the place has assumed global importance for observing a number of time-critical cosmic explosive events such as gamma-ray bursts and supernovae. 

• It is Asia’s largest fully steerable optical telescope, an international facility for and people from different parts of the world compete for observation and machine time by submitting research proposals.

• It was set up in the year 2016 by Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), an autonomous research institute of DST, with support from the Belgian government. 

• It established India’s role as a global player in astronomy research and is facilitating strong future collaborations with national, international institutions and industries.

Devasthal Fast Optical Telescope (DFOT)

• A modern Ritchey-Chretien Cassegrain 1.3-m diameter Devasthal Fast Optical Telescope (DFOT) has been installed at Devasthal by the DFM Engineering Inc, USA and run by Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES). 

• It was inaugurated in December 2010. 

• The DFOT is well suited for diverse science programmes with small telescopes like detection and optical follow-up of transient events, deep imaging of star clusters, search and study of variable stars, extrasolar planets, milli-mag variability in AGN, Quasars and Blazers, and optical study of faint galaxies apart from many other science programmes. 

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