PLUTO
CLASSIFIED INFORMATION
PLUTO'S MOON CHARON & PLUTO
Pluto is the outermost planet from the sun. Although because of its eccentric orbit, it sometimes is the eighth planet from the sun. Most people recognize Pluto as a planet, but science is constantly considering Pluto not as a planet. Currrently, Pluto is considered a planet. One reason that supports this is that it orbits the Sun, although its orbital plane is at an angle of 17 degrees , and its ellipse, oval-like orbit, comes inside Neptune's orbit. A second reason that Pluto is considered a planet is that it has a moon, Charon, although Charon is half the size of Pluto alone and they could possibly be sister planets.
Pluto is 3,700,000,000 miles (5,900,000,000 kilometers) from the sun. Being the smallest planet, its diameter is 1,430 miles (2,300 kilometers). Pluto's lonely orbit is extremely eccentric. It takes 248.5 years for Pluto to orbit the sun. Pluto's extended oval orbit, has an eccentricity of .246, unlike the normal ovals of the other planets.
Pluto was discovered on Feberuary 18, 1930, in a search for a different planet entirely. Scientists were studying irregularities in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. They were looking for a "Planet X". Instead they discovered Pluto.
Temperatures . . . . . . -240 degrees F (-150 degrees C)
Atmosphere. . . . . . . None known?
Length of Day . . . . . 6 days 9 hours
Length of Year. . . . . 248.5 Earth years
Because of lack of pictures and evidence, there is no definite information on Pluto's composition. It is thought that Pluto has a rocky core, with a mantle composed of frozen water and methane. Pluto does have an atmosphere, though it is very thin. Pluto's density is just over twice that of water, this helps indicate its rocky core. The surface pressure of Pluto is one hundred-thousandth that of Earth. Pluto's atmosphere most likely consists mainly of methane, along with other gases such as oxygen, carbon monoxide, argon, and nitrogen.
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