Solar System Exploration: Pluto Vs. Earth

Pluto is unlike the other planets in that it has an icy surface instead of a rocky surface, like the inner 4 (terrestrial) planets, or a deep atmosphere, like the next 4 (gas giant) planets.

Astronomers now label Pluto as a “dwarf planet” because it does not meet all of the criteria to be a planet. It is also not alone in its orbit; it is part of a wide group of small-scale objects that have been detected revolving around the Sun beyond Neptune.

In the outer limits of our solar system there is a planet unlike any other, Pluto. Pluto was discovered in February of 1930 by an American astronomer, Clyde Tombaugh. It is the only planet to have been discovered by an American. All though we have known of the existence of Pluto for over thirty years now, there are still many mysteries surrounding this celestial body. Being the farthest planet has made it difficult to study Pluto, Adding to the obscurity of this strange planet is that the capability to send spacecraft such distances has never been achieved. Through the wonders of science and astronomy, there are many things that can be determined, concluded, and hypothesized about this obscure planet.

People love Pluto, whether they are young or old it does not seem to matter. The ‘planet’ (and Walt Disney’s beloved character) holds a special place in a lot of people’s hearts. Yet, this only became clear to me after reading The Pluto Files by Neil deGrasse Tyson. I remember when Pluto’s classification changed from being a planet to a dwarf planet however, I was never aware of how big of a controversy it caused. The fact that there was a conference deciding whether or not we should keep Pluto as our ninth planet was not something I was aware of previously to this book. Tyson does a wonderful job explaining the story of Pluto and not only the how the planet was reclassified but also why.

Outer space is a realm of new discoveries and possibilities. There is one particular planet in our solar system that is brimming with these possibilities. However, for nine years it has not actually been considered a planet. The “dwarf planet”, Pluto, has been overlooked and misrepresented in astronomy and planetary science. Since being demoted from planet status to dwarf planet status, little Pluto has raised some big questions about what defines a planet and what does not. In this paper, I will attempt to persuade you that Pluto should be promoted back to its original planet status. First, I will give you a brief history of Pluto, from its discovery to what prompted its reclassification. Next, I will explain the definition of a planet as given by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the definition’s flaws. Finally, I will discuss the recent discoveries of the New Horizons mission and how these new discoveries should lead to the reclassification of Pluto to its original planet status.

Scientists of the New Horizons mission have found Pluto to be 1,473 miles in diameter, which is larger than many prior estimates. Pluto’s size means that its density is slightly lower and the fraction of ice in its interior is slightly higher. Also, the lowest layer of Pluto’s atmosphere is shallower. They were able to confirm that Pluto’s largest moon, Cheron is 751 miles across as well as the smaller moons Nix is estimated to be about 20 miles across, while Hydra is roughly 30 miles across. Pluto’s even smaller moons, Kerberos and Styx will be determined in later months when the data is transferred to

Once, Pluto was considered the ninth and most distant planet from our sun. Pluto was discovered by an American astronomer name Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. But before being discovered, an American astronomer name Percival Lowell was actually the first to caught hints of Pluto’s existence in 1905. He suggested that there was another world’s gravity that was tugging at the two planets, Neptune and Uranus, from beyond. It turns out that there was another planet, the smallest and ninth planet from the sun, Pluto. The now dwarf planet was named by an 11 year old girl from Oxford, England whose name was Venetia Katharine Douglas Phair or Venetia Burney. The astronomer did predict the planet’s location in 1915, but unfortunately he died without finding

Did you know Pluto’s not a planet? Pluto is a dwarf planet. The astronomers are going to find out how Pluto became a dwarf planet.

In fact, Pluto is smaller than a number of moons which includes: Ganymede, Titan, Callisto Io, Europa, Triton, and Earth’s moon. According to www.space-facts.com/pluto/, “Pluto has 66% of the diameter of the Earth’s moon and 18% of its mass.” And speaking of moons, Pluto has five moons of its own. Those are Charon, Hydra, Nix, Kerberos, and Styx. With an average distance from the sun of nearly four billion miles and an orbit distance of 5,874,000,000 kilometers, it takes approximately 248 years, or about 90,520 days, to complete one orbit. Compare to the orbit period of Earth, Pluto’s is about 248 times longer. Pluto's oval-shaped orbit and that it is inclined at a 17-degree angle result in Pluto’s orbital path not lying in the same plane as the other eight planets. According to history.com, Pluto is at its closest point to the sun when it passes inside the orbit of Neptune, the eighth

First of all, you probably know Pluto fits all but one of the IAU’s, International planet requirements. The original definition of planet was a wanderer, created by the Greeks that watched these planets move for thousands of years (Scientific American). If the world had left that definition, then we would have hundreds of planets in our solar system including Pluto. In fact, we didn 't have an official definition until 2006.This meant that Pluto could no longer be considered a planet since the definition required it to have three characteristics. The IAU decided that in order to qualify as a planet, it had to orbit the Sun, be big enough for gravity to squash it into a round

Pluto has been known as the smallest planet and the 9th planet from the sun. But today pluto is known as a ¨dwarf planet”. Dwarf planets orbit the sun like all the other planets but, they are way smaller, they are also so small that they can not clear objects out of their path. Pluto has a lot of amazing characteristics, many of those include: Pluto comes from the name given by an 11 year old girl from England. Pluto's distance being 3.6 billions miles away from the sun, pluto orbits in an oval shape, pluto is found in a Kuiper

Some factors that lead Dr. Tyson to peg Pluto as a dwarf planet are that “the Pluto-Charon system orbits a point in space outside of the physical extent of Pluto itself” and that “Pluto and Charon are in a rare double tidal lock, always showing the same face to each other” (Pg.34, 36). There are binary stellar systems, asteroids, planets, and even binary KBOs, all of which orbit a site in between them; however, planets should not be affected so extensively by one of their moons gravity to form such an arrangement. Likewise, planets don’t become tidally locked to their moon(s), even Earth and its moon, which is struggling to coerce Earth into a tidal lock together with it, has failed to achieve this double tidal lock. Alternatively, the numerous characteristics of Pluto comprise “a long list of properties that are not shared with any other planet in the system” according to Tyson (Pg.33-37, 118). The majority of Pluto’s attributes and features are instead analogous to celestial small bodies of the Kuiper Belt, including comets, asteroids, and other dwarf planets with their eccentric and debris filled orbits and compositions. Tyson points out that “By 1853, it was clear a new class of objects had been identified: the asteroids” and that “Practically overnight, the planet count dropped back down to seven” after the discoveries of objects in

“Pluto” was the supposed ninth planet of our solar system, unfortunately discovered by Clide Tombaugh. The name of the newly found celestial object was chosen by a small girl from, the best nation in the world, Britain. The apparent demon worshiper chose the name Pluto, after the Roman god of the underworld. Pluto held the status of a planet until 2006 when the IAU declared it a dwarf planet. Despite the IAUs categorization of Pluto as a dwarf planet, devoted fans of “Disney”, conspiracy theorists, and malevolent Pluto-huggers alike reject the prospect.

In addition to Pluto past research about Pluto, NASA is still researching, exploring, and studying more and more about this dwarf planet today. In 2006, the first mission to Pluto was launched by NASA. It was called New Horizons, a spacecraft that is going to the verge of the solar system. New Horizons was sent to study and take pictures of Pluto, its moon, and other worlds within the Kuiper Belt up close. The space craft is said to be about the size of a piano. It was also said that it was a nine year trip to finally reach Pluto in 2015. On July 14, 2015 New Horizons has successfully made its closest approach to Pluto. It is said that it will take 16 months to download all the data the New Horizon collected during its flyby of Pluto and its

With the new dates and photographs from the New Horizons mission (http://clapway.com/2015/07/11/new-horizons-journey-through-the-cosmos-124/) that made a flyby of Pluto on Tuesday, July 14th, scientists are now reporting that, unlike the earth and the moon’s orbit, Pluto and Charon’s orbit is much different. It’s so different in fact, that it is the only instance of this orbit in the Sol solar system.