A Comet-like Tail For Pluto?

Pluto's has a highly elliptical orbit that takes it inside the orbit of Neptune and then out into the distant icy reaches of the Solar System.

Astronomers have long believed that this would have important effects on the dwarf planet's atmosphere. Their models indicate that Pluto's atmosphere is likely to swell as it moves closer to the Sun and the poles sublimate. Later, the atmosphere should condense as it cools down.

That should make the surface of Pluto a barren windswept land that constantly changes as it is battered by supersonic winds. Indeed, Hubble images show that Pluto's surface has a number of interesting features that seem to be changing.

In recent years, other evidence has emerged to back up suspicions that Pluto is more complex than astronomers initially imagined.…