Pluto
Pluto, the ninth planet in our solar system, is debatably the most mysterious planet that researchers have discovered. This small planet has caused many great arguments between astronomers. With the facts they know about Pluto and the new findings they come across as man becomes more technologically advanced, these arguments become more heated. Yet, there are still many mysteries that have not been solved about Pluto that astronomers wish to uncover in the near future.
The discovery of Pluto happened in the year 1930 purely by accident. Calculations that once lead astrologers to believe there was another planet beyond Neptune were proven false. Unknowing of these calculations, astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh studied the sky until he found Pluto on February 18, 1930. He surveyed the sky and discovered the planet at Lowell Observatory in Arizona. After Pluto’s discovery, there were many debates over the name. Some of the suggestions were Atlas, Perseus, Cronos, and Zeus. Surprisingly, the name Pluto was submitted by an 11-year-old girl from Oxford, England.
Pluto’s components are much like that of a comet, mostly ice and rock material. The composition of 70% rock and 30% ice also resembles Neptune’s moon Triton’s composition. Its atmosphere is made up of Methane, Nitrogen, and some Carbon Monoxide. These gases freeze when Pluto is at its farthest point from the Sun, forming an ice barrier around the planet itself. The surface pressure is ~3 microbar and the average temperature is ~50 K. Pluto’s distance from Earth is 7528.0*10^6 km at its maximum and 4284.7*10^6 km at its minimum. Pluto is by far the smallest planet in our solar system, even smaller than seven of the other moons, with a radius of 1160 km. Pluto’s mass cannot be clearly determined because of its close proximity and relationship to its primary moon Charon. The combined mass of Pluto and Charon is 1.27e22kg. Pluto’s orbit is, on average, 5,913,520,000 km from the Sun....