What is Pluto?
Pluto is a dwarf planet. Dwarf planets orbit the sun like other planets; however, they are much smaller. Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh in the United States. This dwarf planet is only half as wide as the United States and is smaller than Earth's moon. One day on Pluto is six and a half days on Earth and forty times farther away from the sun than Earth. (Fun fact: it was named by an eleven-year-old girl from England!)
Why is Pluto no longer a Planet?
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) created a new definition for planets and Pluto did not meet it. The IAU declared that a planet must be a celestial body that orbits the sun, is round or nearly round, and clears the area around its orbit. Pluto does not meet the third criteria because its orbit overlaps with Neptune.
What is Pluto's Climate and Surface Like?
Pluto is extremely cold, with an icy shell, dunes made of solid methane ice, and mountain peaks covered in methane snow. The snow red instead of white. Pluto has the largest known glacier in the solar system. The temperature of Pluto is around 400 degrees Fahrenheit below zero. As the planet orbits farther away from the sun, it gets even colder. Typically, Pluto is so far from the sun that sunlight is only as bright as a full moon on Earth. From Pluto’s surface, the sun looks like a bright star.
What is Pluto's Atmosphere Like?
The atmosphere of Pluto is a thin layer of gasses. It is mostly nitrogen with small amounts of methane and carbon monoxide. Pluto's atmosphere expands as it gets closer to the sun. As Pluto moves away from the sun, its temperatures drop, freezing the atmosphere and making it collapse back down to the surface.
Works cited:
Dunbar, Brian. “What Is Pluto?” NASA, NASA, 21 May 2015, www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-pluto-k4.html.
“In Depth | Pluto.” NASA, NASA, 12 Oct. 2020, solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/dwarf-planets/pluto/in-depth/.
Kent, Lauren. “Why Pluto Is No Longer a Planet (or Is It?).” CNN, Cable News Network, 24 Aug. 2019, www.cnn.com/2019/08/24/world/pluto-no-longer-planet-space-scn/index.html#:~:text=Why%20Pluto%20is%20no%20longer%20a%20planet%20%28or,debate.%20...%204%20Too%20cool%20for%20school.%20.
Written by: Maysa Nashawati
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