Page on Pluto

Did you know Pluto was discovered when scientist were searching for an object large enough to affect Uranus and Neptune's orbits? Did you know that Earth gets more light from a full moon than Pluto gets from the sun? Could you have guessed that Neptune is currently getting less light from the sun than Pluto? Or could you have guessed that Pluto and its satellite Charon are considered double planets? If you didn't know the answers to these questions, this is the perfect page for you.

Pluto was discovered by Clyde W. Tombaugh on February 18, 1930, making it the last planet found in our solar system. After its discovery it was also discovered that it was too small to affect Uranis or Neptune's orbit. After its discovery some scientist didn't consider Pluto to be a planet, because they believe it to be a moon which escaped Neptune's gravitational pull. This planet has its own satilite known as Charon, and because of its locked gravitational pull with Pluto, they are together known as the double planet.

This is a picture of what they may look like.

Pluto is usually the most distant plant from the sun, but because of its elliptic orbit, elliptic meaning shaped like an enlongated closed curve, Pluto crossed inside Neptune's orbit in 1979 and won't move out untill 1999. This happens every 248 earth years for 20 years. During this time, the methane and nitrogen that was frozen at the poles of the planet thaw out. It then rises and temporarily forms an atmosphere. At the end of the twenty years, which will be 1999, the planet will move back to its original postion and the the gasses that formed an atmosphere will freeze and fall back into place. When this happens, the temperatures are expected to be -240 degrees C.

Little is known about Pluto, but it is noted to be smaller than any other planet and most moons. It is most likely the composed of frozen rock and ice, because the planet recieves little to no light from the sun. If you were able to stand on its surface, you would see that the sun looks like a mere speck of light. However, don't quote me on this, because no one has been on Pluto. Infact, Pluto is the only panet in our solar system which has not yet been visited. This however won't be for long because, NASA plans to launch a spacecraft, The Pluto Express, in the year 2001 that will allow scientist in the year 2013 to study the planet before the atmospher freezes.

This page is written by Maxine Page in the astronomy class of BCC/Broward County on July 1998