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Pluto is the ninth planet from the sun, but not so long ago, it was the eighth planet. About every 220 years, Pluto switches places with Neptune, becoming the 8^th planet. This happened from February 7, 1979 through February 11, 1999 when Pluto took over Neptune’s orbit. The reason this happened was that Pluto’s orbit was stretched out and tilted causing it to cross with Neptune’s orbit. Cylde W. Tombaugh made the discovery of the planet Pluto on February 18, 1930.

Cylde Tombaugh was able to make this discovery by taking pictures of the solar system at different times (about one and two weeks apart). The idea was that Clyde Tombaugh could compare the pictures and try to notice any differences. The result of this experiment was the discovery of Pluto. Pluto being so small made it difficult to find. It has one moon (also known has a satellite) called Charon. In fact, Pluto is so small it can fit inside the United States.

Occasionally Pluto will cross in front of a reasonably bright star, making the planet more visible. The last bright star to cross in front of Pluto occurred in June 1988 and provided the first direct evidence of Pluto's atmosphere.

If you were to stand on the planet Pluto it would be hard to see because it is so dark. The only light you might see is the sun, but it would look more like a very small bright star. From Earth scientists say that Pluto is a big floating snowball.

 

 

Diameter……………………………….1,430 miles

             Closest to the sun…………2.7 billion miles

Farthest …………………………4.6 billion miles

Days/nights. ……. 6 days 9 hours (earth)

Year………………….248 in Earth years

              Temperature..…………………. - 380° F

Moon…………..………………………….Charon