2. HISTORY OF PLUTO
• It was first discovered as the ninth planet on February 18th, 1930 by astronomer,
Tombaugh
• The discovery of Pluto was publicly announced on March 13th, 1930
• The surface temperature of Pluto is an estimated approximate of -360 Fahrenheit
• Pluto is named after the Roman name for the god of the underworld (in Greek
mythology, this god’s name is Hades)
3. •
The average distance from Pluto to
the Sun is almost 4 billion miles
•
It takes approximately 248 Earth
years for Pluto to complete a single
orbit
•
Pluto has the most elliptical and tilted
orbit of any of the planets
•
When at its closest point to the Sun, it
passes inside the orbit of Neptune
(the eighth planet)
4. PLUTO AND
CHARON
•
James Christy and Robert Harrington
discovered Pluto’s only known moon,
Charon, in 1978
•
Charon was determined to have a
diameter of 737 miles to Pluto's 1,428
miles
•
It as thought that, together, Charon
and Pluto formed a double-planet
system – which was ample enough
mass to cause wobbles in Uranus’
and Neptune’s orbits
5. In August 2006, the International Astronomical
Union announced that Pluto would no longer
be considered a planet, due to new rules that
said planets must "clear the neighborhood
around its orbit." Since Pluto's oblong orbit
overlaps that of Neptune, it was disqualified.
6. PROFILE
• Mass: 13,050,000,000,000 billion kg (0.00218 x Earth)
• Diameter: 2,306 km
• Known Satellites: 5
• Notable Satellites: Charon, Nix, Hydra, Kerberos and Styx
• Orbit Distance: 39.26 AU
• Orbit Period: Approx. 246.04 Earth years
• Surface Temperature: Approx. -360 Fahrenheit
• Date of Discovery: February 18th, 1930
• Discovered By: Clyde W. Tombaugh
7.
8. INTERESTING FACTS
• Pluto is named after the Roman god of the underworld (in Greek: Hades)
• No spacecraft has visited Pluto
• Though in July 2015 the spacecraft New Horizons, which was launched in 2006, is scheduled to fly by Pluto on it’s way
to the Kuiper Belt.
• Pluto takes the longest time of the eight planets (248 Earth years) to orbit around the sun.
• Pluto spins in the opposite direction as Earth, which means the sun rises in the west and sets in the east.
• It takes about five hours for sunlight to reach Pluto
• In astrology, Pluto is associated with powers of creation/rebirth as well as destruction/death
• The sky is so dark on Pluto that a person would be able to see stars during the day
• On Pluto, the sun rises and sets about once a week
