Pluto

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Computer-generated

map of Pluto from Hubble images, synthesised true colour[note 1] and among

the highest resolutions possible with current technology

Discovery

Discoverer Clyde W. Tombaugh

Discovery date February 18, 1930

MPC designation 134340 Pluto

Minor planet category dwarf planet,

TNO,

plutoid,

KBO,

plutino

Orbital characteristics

Aphelion 7,375,927,931 km

49.305 032 87 AU

Perihelion 4,436,824,613 km

29.658 340 67 AU

Average orbital speed 4.666 km/s

Inclination 17.141 75°

11.88° to Sun's equator

Satellites 3

Physical characteristics
 Mean radius 1,153 ± 10 km[2]

0.18 Earths

Surface area 1.665×107 km²[note 2]

0.033 Earths

Volume 6,39×109 km³[note 3]

0.0059  Earths

Mass (1.305 ± 0.007)×1022 kg[2]

0.002 1 Earths

0.178 moon

Mean density 2.03 ± 0.06 g/cm³[2]

Equatorial surface gravity Template:Gr m/s²[note 4]

0.067 g

Escape velocity Template:V2 km/s[note 5]

Sidereal rotation period −6.387 230 day

6 d 9 h 17 m 36 s

Rotation velocity at equator 47.18 km/h

Axial tilt 119.591 ± 0.014° (to orbit)[2][note 6]

Right ascension ofNorth pole 133.046 ± 0.014°[2]

Declination of North pole −6.145 ± 0.014°[2]

Adjectives Plutonian

Atmosphere

Surface pressure 0.30 Pa (summer maximum)

Composition nitrogen, methane

Pluto is the second-largest dwarf planet in the Solar System. It is smaller than the largest dwarf planet, Eris. Its formal name is134340 Pluto. The

dwarf planet is the tenth-largest body that moves around the Sun. At first, Pluto was called a planet. Now, it isconsidered the largest of the

heavenly bodies in the Kuiper belt.[note 8]

Like other members of the Kuiper belt, Pluto is mainly made of rock and ice. It is quite small. It is about a fifth of the mass of theEarth's Moon,. It

is only a third its volume. It has an odd orbit. This orbit is very inclined. It takes Pluto to 30 to 49 AU (4.4–7.4 billion km) from the Sun. This causes

Pluto to sometimes come closer to the Sun than Neptune. Since it was discovered in 1930, Pluto was thought to be the Solar System's ninth
planet. In the late 1970s, the minor planet 2060 Chiron was found and people learned that Pluto had a small mass. They questioned why it was a

major planet from then.[6] Later, in the early 21st century, the scattered disc object Eris and other objects like Pluto were discovered. Eris is 27%

more massive than Pluto.[7] On August 24, 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) defined the term "planet" for the first time. By this

definition, Pluto was no longer a planet. It became a "dwarf planet" along with Eris and Ceres.[8] After this, Pluto was added to the list of minor

planets. It was given the number 134340. [9][10] A number of scientists continue to hold that Pluto should be classified as a planet. [11] Pluto and its

largest moon, Charon, are sometimes called a "binary system". This is because the barycentre of their orbits does not lie within them. [12] The IAU

has yet to formalise a definition for binary dwarf planets, and until it passes such a ruling, they classify Charon as a moon of Pluto.[13] Pluto has

two known smaller moons, Nix and Hydra, discovered in 2005.[14]

Contents

1 Disco

very

Discovery

In the 1840s, using Newtonian mechanics, Urbain Le Verrier predicted the planet Neptune existed. He discovered this after studying the orbit

of Uranus.[15] Neptune was seen later in the late 19th century. Astronomers then felt that Uranus's orbit was being disturbed by another planet. In

1906, Percival Lowell, a person from Boston began an extensive to search the ninth planet. He called it "Planet X". [16] By 1909, Lowell and William

H. Pickering had suggested many possible places in the Solar System where the planet could be. [17] Lowell continued the research till 1916.

However, it fetched no good result. On March 19, 1915, his observatory had captured two images of Pluto. Lowell did not know this. The pictures

was not recognized then for what it was.[17][18] Constance Lowell, Percival's widow had a ten-year long legal battle for Percival's estate. For this

reason, the search for Planet X again started in 1929. [19] The director of the mission, Vesto Melvin Slipher, gave the job to Clyde Tombaugh, a 23-

year-old Kansas man. Tombaugh had just come at the Lowell Observatory. Slipher had been impressed by his astronomical drawings. [19]

Tombaugh's had to systematically get pictures of the night sky in pairs every two weeks. Then, he had to look at each pair. This was to know

whether any object had shifted. He used a machine called a blink comparator. He quickly shifted between the different views of each of the plates.

This helped him to see whether any object had changed their position. On February 18, 1930, Tombaugh discovered an object which seemed to

move from the photographic plates taken on January 23 and January 29 of the year. Another picture taken on January 21 confirmed this. [20] After

the observatory did more research about it, news of the discovery was telegraphed to the Harvard College Observatory on March 13, 1930. [17]

Name

The discovery made headlines across the Earth. The Lowell Observatory had the right to name the new object. They received over 1000

suggestions from all over the world. Some proposed Atlas as the name. Others wanted to name it Zymal. [21] Tombaugh urged Slipher to suggest a

name for the new object quickly before someone else did. [21] Constance Lowell proposed Zeus, then Lowell,and finally Constance. These

suggestions were not used.[22] The name Pluto was proposed by Venetia Burney (later Venetia Phair). She was an 11-year-old schoolgirl

in Oxford, Englandthen.[23] Venetia was interested in classical mythology and astronomy. The name was of the Roman god of the underworld. She

thought it was a good name for a dark and cold world. She suggested it when she was talking with her grandfather Falconer Madan. He was a

former librarian at the University of Oxford's Bodleian Library. Madan passed the name to Professor Herbert Hall Turner. Turner told this
proposed name to the astronomers in the United States. The object was officially named on March 24, 1930. [25][26] Each member of the Lowell

Observatory was allowed to vote on a short-list of three names. The names were Minerva (which was already the name for an asteroid), Cronus,

and Pluto. Pluto received all votes. [27] The name was announced on May 1, 1930. [23] Upon the announcement, Madan gave Venetia five pounds as

a reward.[23] The name became popular in culture. The Disney character, Pluto, introduced in the same year. He was named in the object's

honour.[28] In 1941, Glenn T. Seaborg named the newly created element plutonium after Pluto. This was to keep the tradition of naming new

elements after newly discovered planets. For example, uranium had been named after Uranus, and neptunium after Neptune.