Pluto, once thought of as
"Planet X," is the furthest planet from the Sun, most of the time.
Being one of the planets visible with only a telescope, it was not
discovered until high magnification telescopes were invented, but
people knew it was there. They first figured it out by using
mathematics, which was very clever.
Pluto is about 39 times as
far away from the Sun as the Earth is. This comes out to be
approximately 3.66 billion miles (5.89 billion kilometers) away from
the Sun. The planet Pluto spins on an axis, similar to the Earth.
This rotation takes about six Earth days to make a complete 360°
rotation. The Earth takes approximately one day. Pluto has an
estimated diameter of approximately 1,420 miles (2,285 kilometers),
which is less than a fifth (1/5) of that of Earth. Since no actual
temperature measurement has been conducted on Pluto, astronomers
estimate that it is between -342°F and -369°F (-208°C
and -223°C). The planet Pluto appears to be partly covered by
frozen methane gas and it has an atmosphere composed of mostly
methane. Because of the low density on the planet, astronomers
imagine that the planet is mostly ice. Scientists doubt that there is
any life on Pluto.
Pluto has an elliptical
orbit, meaning that it travels in an oval pattern. During some points
in the orbit, the planet travels in front of Neptune. This phenomenon
lasts for about 20 years, and then the planet's orbit takes it back to
its original spot. This phenomenal event takes about 248 years to
occur, which is about the time it takes Pluto to orbit the Sun. Pluto
became the second farthest planet on January 23, 1979 and will remain
there until March 15, 1999, coming closest to the Sun on September
12, 1985.
The planet Pluto was named
after the Roman god, Pluto. He was the lord of the underworld, Tartarus.
Since Pluto was considered a dark, lifeless planet when it was
discovered, the name was felt to be appropriate.
Images of Pluto
http://bang.lanl.gov/solarsys/pluto.htm
Surface of Pluto.
http://bang.lanl.gov/solarsys/pluto.htm
Zoomed out image of the
surface of Pluto.
http://bang.lanl.gov/solarsys/pluto.htm
Image of the planet Pluto
and its moon.
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