Today I received an email from the website www.getglue.com informing me I had become the “guru” of Pluto. I don’t know how I became a guru, but several months ago I left a quote regarding the former planet where I said, “Dear Pluto, you’ll always be a planet to me.” Apparently, somebody else is pulling for the little guy because now I am the Pluto Guru (which basically means I get some stickers, so that’s cool). So I thought I’d give a little information about our friend, who for 76 years, was this solar system’s ninth planet.
Prior to 1930, astronomers theorized there was another planet just beyond the newly-discovered Neptune that also affected the orbit of Uranus. After much searching and comparisons of plates using a machine called a “blink comparator,” “Planet X” was discovered and officially announced on March 13, 1930. Three names were considered: Minerva, Cronos, and Pluto, the last proposed by an eleven-year-old girl named Venetia Burney. Each member of the Lowell Observatory, who made the discovery, voted on the name; Pluto was unanimously the winner. On May 1, 1930, the official announcement was made. Pluto became the ninth planet in our solar system. An unconfirmed rumor says Walt Disney introduced Mickey Mouse’s dog in honor of the new discovery. In 1941, Glenn T. Seaborg kept the tradition of naming elements after planets (uranium, neptunium) and introduced plutonium.
The cold, dark planet (aptly named for the Roman god of the underworld) has a thin atmosphere of nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide. In 1978, a small satellite was discovered near Pluto. Astronomers have noticed an interesting relationship between Pluto and the satellite called Charon. For example, they are tidally locked to each other (they always present the same face to each other). In 2005, two more satellites—Nix and Hydra—were also discovered.
On July 29, 2005, a new “Trans-Plutonian Object” was discovered. Eris was initially called the tenth planet, but there were many who objected to calling it a planet. This led to many in the astronomical community to reevaluate the definition of the term “planet.” In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) stated that a planet is a celestial body that:
1. is in orbit around the Sun,
2. has sufficient mass to assume hydrostatic equilibrium (a nearly round shape), and
3. has "cleared the neighbourhood" around its orbit.
According to the definition, Pluto did not meet the third qualification, and was renamed a “dwarf planet” (along with Eris, Ceres, Makemake, and Haumea). The astronomical community has been divided on the issue since the decision became official. Coincidentally, in the same year NASA launched “New Horizons,” a research expedition to learn more about the pla…the dwa… Pluto. It is expected to arrive in 2015.
The public has also been vocal in its objection to Pluto’s reclassification. New Mexico’s House of Representatives stated that Pluto will always be a planet while in New Mexican skies, and even designated March 13, 2007 as Pluto Planet Day. In 2009, Illinois passed a similar resolution since Pluto’s discoverer Clyde Tombaugh was born there. Several of us who were raised and taught that there were nine planets in the solar system will have a difficult time of letting go of the little guy.
Pluto, you’ll always be a planet to me.
(Consulted from Wikipedia.org)
