The frozen plains of Pluto

Digital work

Although the apparent size of the Sun is 30 times smaller than seen from Earth, from Pluto our star is still very bright, giving roughly 150 to 450 times the light of the full Moon on Earth (the variability being due to the fact that Pluto's orbit is highly elliptical). So it is still possible to read a book on Pluto. Pluto's atmosphere consists of a thin envelope of nitrogen, methane and carbon monoxide gases, which are derived from the ices of these substances on its surface, This atmosphere produces a noticeable blue haze which is visible at sunset.