PARIS: A tiny, little-known world beyond Pluto appears to have an atmosphere, Japanese astronomers said Monday, defying what had been thought possible for icy objects in our cosmic backyard.&nbsp;If confirmed, the roughly 500-kilometre-wide (310-mile) rock would become just the second world past Neptune in our Solar System to host an atmosphere -- after only Pluto itself.&nbsp;Formerly classified as a planet, Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet status in 2006, in part because astronomers were discovering other similar objects in a distant region called the Kuiper Belt.&nbsp;While NASA under US President Donald Trump has floated the idea of restoring Pluto&#39;s planet status, the discovery of another atmosphere nearby could undermine the argument for its reinstatement.&nbsp;For the new discovery, Japanese researchers and an amateur astronomer pointed their telescopes at an object with the unwieldy name of (612533) 2002 XV93.&nbsp;The icy world is nearly 40 times further from the Sun than Earth -- or roughly six billion kilometers away.&nbsp;These dark objects can only be seen when they pass in front of a distant star.&nbsp;When this happened in January 2024, the astronomers observed that the starlight did not immediately reappear, suggesting a thin atmosphere was filtering some of the light.&nbsp;They estimate that the world has an atmosphere five to 10 million times thinner than Earth&#39;s, according to a new study in Nature Astronomy.&nbsp;&quot;This is important because, until now, Pluto was the only trans-Neptunian object with a confirmed atmosphere,&quot; lead study author Ko Arimatsu of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan told AFP.&nbsp;Such small worlds had not been thought capable of hosting an atmosphere.&nbsp;&quot;This discovery therefore challenges the conventional view that small icy worlds in the outer Solar System are mostly inactive and unchanging,&quot; he added.&nbsp;Ice volcanoes or comet smash?&nbsp;The researchers could not say for sure what created the atmosphere, which is nowhere near thick enough to support life.&nbsp;But they suggested it could have been made by gas being shot out from the world&#39;s interior by erupting ice volcanoes.&nbsp;Or it could have been kicked up by a comet smashing into the world, which would mean it will gradually disappear.&nbsp;Jose-Luis Ortiz, a Spanish astronomer not involved in the research who studies dwarf planets beyond Neptune, said the results were interesting, but urged caution.&nbsp;&quot;I still doubt that it is an atmosphere. We need more data,&quot; he told AFP.&nbsp;An alternative explanation for the observations could be that the object has a ring close to its body, Ortiz said.&nbsp;Ko Arimatsu acknowledged that he could not rule out &quot;exotic alternatives&quot; to an atmosphere.&nbsp;However, &quot;a nearly edge-on ring does not seem consistent with the main features of our observations,&quot; he added.&nbsp;Both astronomers called for further observations to reveal more about this strange world -- particularly with the James Webb space telescope.&nbsp;There have also been suggestions that a dwarf planet called Makemake, which is slightly smaller than Pluto, could have a very thin atmosphere, though some scientists are sceptical.&nbsp;Last week, NASA administrator Jared Isaacman suggested the US space agency was considering reinstating Pluto as a fully-fledged planet.&nbsp;Isaacman made the comments while endorsing a proposal to halve NASA&#39;s science budget, riling some astronomers, Nature reported.&nbsp;&quot;It&#39;s wild to &#39;make Pluto a planet again&#39; while decimating the careers of those of us that study it!&quot; planetary scientist Adeene Denton wrote on Bluesky.

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Japanese astronomers observed distant object 2002 XV93 and found signs of a very thin atmosphere, possibly from ice volcanoes or impacts. Scientists remain cautious, suggesting alternative explanations and calling for further observations to confirm findings.

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Mysterious world beyond Pluto may have an atmosphere: astronomers

Mysterious world beyond Pluto may have an atmosphere: astronomers