Pluto Facts

Right from its discovery in 1930, till 2006, Pluto (formally known as 134340 Pluto) adorned the status of a planet. It was considered the ninth planet of the solar system, which was also the smallest and the most distant one. However, during the 1970s, the discovery of a minor planet 2060 Chiron and the recognition of the low mass of Pluto, raised doubts regarding the planetary status of this erstwhile 'planet'. Later, with the onset of the twenty-first century, many more minor planets were discovered and one of them (Eris) were more massive than Pluto. All these facts led to the formulation of a definition for the term 'planet' and Pluto did not fit the parameters of a planet. In short, after the convention of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2006, Pluto was stripped off its planetary status and demoted to the status of a dwarf planet (with a new number 134340), along with other minor planets like the Eris and the Ceres. However, the debate regarding the planetary status of Pluto is still on, as many scientists still consider it a planet.

Interesting Facts About Pluto

Now you have a basic idea about its discovery, history and status. Pluto is the second-largest known dwarf planet in the solar system; the tenth largest body found to be revolving around the sun in an orbit and the largest member of the Kuiper belt.

• Even though the efforts to find out the ninth planet was done by researchers named Lowell and William H. Pickering, it was Clyde Tombaugh, who became successful in discovering Pluto.
• The name 'Pluto' was suggested by a nine-year old school girl called Venetia Burney, of Oxford in England. The naming was influenced by one of the alternate names of Hades, the Greek god (Pluto is the alternate name of Hades).
• It is in this planet's honor, that the Disney character 'Pluto' and the element 'Plutonium', were named.
• As far as the size of Pluto is concerned, it is smaller than the size of earth's moon and is half the width of Ganymede, which is Jupiter's moon. It has a diameter of around 2340 kilometers and a mass of 1.31 x 10²² kilograms. The average distance of Pluto from the sun is around 5,914,000,000 kilometers. It cannot be seen with naked eye and through a telescope, it resembles a star.
• Pluto too has an atmosphere and three moons, named, Charon, Nix and Hydra. While Nix and Hydra are smaller in size, Charon is almost half the size of Pluto. Sometimes, Pluto, along with Charon is treated as a binary system.
• Pluto is mainly composed of rock and ice and is brownish-yellow in appearance. Its atmosphere is a thin layer of gases like nitrogen, methane and carbon monoxide. These gases form as Pluto moves closer to the sun and the gases freeze as it goes farther away from the sun.
• According to some astronomers, Pluto was once a moon of Neptune. However, the current orbit of Pluto is elliptical, which brings it closer to the sun than Neptune.
• Pluto's orbital period is around 247.7 earth years, which means that it takes around 90,410 earth days for Pluto to revolve around the sun once. Since its discovery in 1930, it has not even revolved once around the sun completely. If you calculate its orbital period from 1930, it has another 168 years to complete its orbit.
• It has a very low rotation speed as compared to other planets in the solar system. As a result, a day on Pluto amounts to 6 days and 9 hours.

It is also contended that Pluto may become a comet, if it gets closer to the sun, as it contains rock and ice, in a way similar to comets. Even though, it has lost its planetary status, let us not forget the fact that it is the only 'planet' discovered in the twentieth century. Hope this article is an addition to your knowledge about Pluto.