What is Pluto?

NASA ^

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Pluto is a dwarf planet. A dwarf planet travels around, or orbits, the sun just like other planets. But it is much smaller.

Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930. He was an astronomer from the United States. An astronomer is a scientist who studies stars and other objects in space. Venetia Burney named Pluto that same year. She was an 11-year-old girl from England.

Pluto is not very big. It is only half as wide as the United States. Pluto is smaller than Earth's moon. This dwarf planet takes 248 Earth years to go around the sun. If you lived on Pluto, you would have to wait 248 Earth years to celebrate your first birthday. One day on Pluto is about 6 1/2 days on Earth.

Pluto is about 40 times farther from the sun than Earth is. Pluto is in an area of space called the Kuiper (KY-per) Belt. Thousands of small, icy objects like Pluto but smaller are in the Kuiper Belt.

This dwarf planet has five moons. Its largest moon is named Charon (KAIR-ən). Charon is about half the size of Pluto. Pluto's four other moons are named Kerberos, Styx, Nix and Hydra.

What Is Pluto Like?

Pluto is very, very cold...

[Vendome]

Just some Mickey Mouse planet with Goofy inhabitants and Minnie Mouse for a queen...

[SunkenCiv]

The demotion of Pluto was a political act by a supposedly scientific org, was a gratuitous and unnecessary action, carried out to belittle the US. IMHO of course. I'll stick with David Levy's view:

"To Pluto And Far Beyond" By David H. Levy, Parade, January 15, 2006 -- We don't have a dictionary definition yet that includes all the contingencies. In the wake of the new discovery, however, the International Astronomical Union has set up a group to develop a workable definition of planet. For our part, in consultation with several experienced planetary astronomers, Parade offers this definition: A planet is a body large enough that, when it formed, it condensed under its own gravity to be shaped like a sphere. It orbits a star directly and is not a moon of another planet.

[SunkenCiv]

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[EvilCapitalist]

Maybe Uranus, but not mine.

[The Chid]

I met Clyde Tombaugh in 1986 at an induction to the Space Hall of Fame in Alamogordo, NM.

Very gracious man. He sat and played with my then 2 year old son for about 10 minutes. He said he loved children, they helped keep him feeling young.

[GrandJediMasterYoda]

Wow that’s great! I would have loved to meet him. He lived a very long time from what I understand. You know I just remembered, after I did that report I asked my parents (more like Santa) if I could have a telescope for Christmas and they got me one although it didn’t look very far, but I could make out the craters on the moon. There’s probably a ton of kids like me that Clyde inspired

[sit-rep]

I made it thru the first paragraph and it sounds like the author of this piece is writing for said children’s book!!

[maddog55]

The NASA article reads like a children’s book.

[Jim Noble]

Pluuto prefers the term “Little Planet”. Its pronouns are he/him

[heavy metal]

it’s a free tv streaming service...

[Magnum44]

We agree. Pluto is a planet.

[Salman]

The people of Jupiter and Saturn say there are two major planets, two minor planets, and a bunch of inner solar system and outer solar system debris.

[daniel1212]

"I made it thru the first paragraph and it sounds like the author of this piece is writing for said children’s book!!"

Indeed:

This article is part of the NASA Knows! (Grades K-4) series.

[Verginius Rufus]

I got to hear Clyde Tombaugh speak at the university where I was then teaching, a few years after 1986. Wonderful experience--he had tremendous enthusiasm for astronomical research and discovery. Finding Pluto was just one of many things he accomplished in his career.

When he first discovered Pluto in 1930, I think the media wanted to give all the credit to Percival Lowell, who had launched the search for Planet X, although Lowell had died years before and Tombaugh had improved the method of searching.

[ADemocratNoMore]

My fifth grade teacher was Clyde Tombaugh’s sister. This was back in the early 1960s.

[KC_Lion]

The Ninth Planet?

LOL

[Redcitizen]

Hallucinating Pluto

[SunkenCiv]

I noticed a hallucinating Pluto when I saw the re-release of “Fantasia” in the theater.

[Redcitizen]

Haha!! :)

[SunkenCiv]

;^)