Interesting Facts About Pluto?
Posted in Astrology
- Pluto was found in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh
- The name ‘Pluto’ was suggested by an 11 year old girl
- A day on Pluto lasts for 6 days and 9 hours
- Pluto is smaller than any planet, and even 7 moons
- Pluto has 3 natural satellites
- Pluto has an atmosphere
- Pluto’s orbit is elliptical
- Pluto is too faint to be seen with the naked eye
- There’s a spacecraft going to Pluto right now
- Pluto is not a planet anymore
This post has one comment
February 3rd, 2010
The statement that “Pluto is not a planet anymore” is not quite true. That represents only one side in an ongoing debate, and I urge you not to accept it blindly. Only four percent of the IAU voted on the controversial demotion, and most are not planetary scientists. Their decision was immediately opposed in a formal petition by hundreds of professional astronomers led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto. One reason the IAU definition makes no sense is it says dwarf planets are not planets at all! That is like saying a grizzly bear is not a bear, and it is inconsistent with the use of the term “dwarf” in astronomy, where dwarf stars are still stars, and dwarf galaxies are still galaxies. Also, the IAU definition classifies objects solely by where they are while ignoring what they are. If Earth were in Pluto’s orbit, according to the IAU definition, it would not be a planet either. A definition that takes the same object and makes it a planet in one location and not a planet in another is essentially useless. Pluto is a planet because it is spherical, meaning it is large enough to be pulled into a round shape by its own gravity–a state known as hydrostatic equilibrium and characteristic of planets, not of shapeless asteroids held together by chemical bonds. These reasons are why many astronomers, lay people, and educators are either ignoring the demotion entirely or working to get it overturned.