Planet Pluto Information

Pluto has always been a topic of interest, being the smallest planet in the solar system, that too, the farthest from the sun. The latest controversy about Pluto is with regard to its planetary status. As per the decision taken at the convention of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2006, Pluto was demoted to the status of a dwarf planet. However, many astrologers still consider it as a planet and the debate regarding its planetary status is still on. Let us take a look at some planet Pluto information, which may be helpful in updating your knowledge about Pluto.

Planet Pluto Facts

We all know that Pluto enjoyed the status of a planet till 2006. It was the ninth planet of the solar system and the most distant one from the sun. During the latter half of the twentieth century, scientists discovered some minor planets, with more mass than Pluto. This led to the formulation of a definition for 'Planet', and as per the definition, Pluto was not entitled to be called a planet. So, it was reclassified as a dwarf planet along with other minor planets. It is the second largest dwarf planet in the solar system and the tenth largest body found to be revolving around the Sun in an orbit. The following are some interesting information about planet Pluto.

• Pluto was discovered in 1930. Researchers named Lowell and William H. Pickering were behind most of the efforts in discovering this planet, but, it was Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered the planet, accidentally.
• Pluto was named after the Greek god, Hades (the god of the underworld) and 'Pluto' is one of the alternate names of Hades.
• This name was suggested by Venetia Burney, a nine-year old school girl from Oxford in England.
• Pluto is smaller than the earth's moon in size and has a diameter of around 2,340 kilometers. Its mass is about 1.31 x 1022 kilograms.
• Pluto has three natural moons and their names are Charon, Nix and Hydra. Charon is almost half the size of Pluto, but the other two are smaller. Read more on Pluto's moon charon.
• Pluto's atmosphere consists of a thin layer of gases, like, nitrogen, methane and carbon dioxide. When the planet moves closer to the sun, gases are formed and when it moves farther, these gases freeze.
• Pluto is believed to be composed of rock and ice and is brownish in appearance. It is speculated that 70% of Pluto is composed of rock and the remaining is ice. The surface temperature of Pluto may range between -235 and -210° C.
• Pluto cannot be seen with naked eye and if you observe it through an amateur telescope, it will be seen as a star. It may take several days of detailed observations to locate Pluto. Only the largest features on its surface can be viewed through the Hubble space telescope.
• Another interesting planet Pluto information is that Pluto has not been visited by a spacecraft till date. If everything goes right, the spacecraft called 'New Horizons' (launched in 2006) should reach it in 2015.
• The period of orbit for Pluto is estimated to be around 247.7 earth years. In other words, it takes around 90,410 earth days for Pluto to revolve around the Sun once.
• The rotation speed of Pluto is very low and so, a day on Pluto amounts to earth's 6 days and 9 hours. It is also noted that Pluto rotates in the opposite direction when compared to most of the other planets.
• One of the interesting Pluto facts is that it is in its honor, the element plutonium and the Disney character Pluto were named.

The above said is only a brief account of planet Pluto information. As there are limitations in access to Pluto, very little is known about it. If you want to know more, you may conduct a detailed study for more facts about Pluto, which is the only 'planet' discovered in the twentieth century.