07:24 | 03/12/2020 Print
Photo: Someinterestingfacts.com |
Pluto was discovered on February 18th, 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh of the Lowell Observatory. In the 76 years between its discovery and subsequent reclassification as a dwarf planet, the planet completed under one third of its orbit around the Sun.
Photographic evidence of the former ninth planet was first sighted by 24-year-old research assistant Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz. Tombaugh’s ashes are aboard the New Horizons spacecraft that passed by Pluto on Tuesday. Astronomer Percival Lowell predicted Pluto’s existence 15 years prior to Tombaugh’s discovery–even charting its approximate location based on the irregularity of Neptune’s orbit, as stated in time.com.
New Horizons, the first vessel devoted to studying Pluto’s environment, is the size of a grand piano
Photo: UniverseToday.com |
The New Horizons probe cost $700 million yet, weighing in at 1,000 pounds, is only the size of a grand piano. It completed the nine-year, 3-billion mile journey to Pluto on Tuesday morning, whizzing about 6,000 ft. from the dwarf planet at 31,000 mph, and snapping the closest pictures of Pluto to date as it passed.
Pluto has a heart shape on its surface
Images released on Tuesday by NASA show a heart shape that measures approximately 1,000 miles across. As NASA reports, “much of the heart’s interior appears remarkably featureless–possibly a sign of ongoing geologic processes.”
Scientists discovered the Solar System’s third zone because of Pluto
Photo: PlanetForKids.com |
While Pluto’s frigid neighbors are responsible for its solar system downfall, they are also what make the New Horizons vision so compelling.
As Jeff Moore at NASA told TIME, “Pluto may be the star witness to the whole third zone of the solar system.” Before the discovery of the Kuiper Belt, the solar system was believed to be comprised of two zones: the inner zone, containing the rocky planets from Mercury to Mars, and the outer zone, containing the gas giants from Jupiter to Neptune. However, Pluto exposed astronomers to our solar system’s third zone, which Moore referred to as a “vast realm of ice worlds.”
Pluto is just the tip of the iceberg After New Horizons passes Pluto on Tuesday, it’ll continue traveling the Kuiper Belt, possibly making contact with another, smaller Kuiper Belt object (KBO) in 2018 or 2019. Pluto is just the beginning. |
Facts about Venus: Top interesting Things Venus is the second planet from the Sun. Venus is sometimes referred to as the Earth’s sister planet due to their similar size and mass. ... |
Facts about the MOON: Top 12 Interesting Things At a distance of 384,400 km from the Earth, the Moon is our closest celestial neighbour and only natural satellite. Like the Earth itself, the ... |
Facts About The Sun: Top 12 Interesting Things Think you know everything there is to know about the Sun? Think again. Here are 12 interesting facts about the Sun, collected in no particular ... |
OCY
Article URL: https://knowinsiders.com/facts-about-pluto-26678.html
All rights reserved by KnowInsider