Pluto is from the sun considered the ninth planet in the solar system. Many feel that the name ?? planet ?? too much credit would be for this celestial body that is no greater than 2300 kilometers. Pluto is a planet and a moon, Charon.
Clyde Tombough was on February 18, 1930 at the Lowell Observatory after a device with which he could compare pictures ?? s. His goal was the mysterious planet, Planet X search. Percival Lowell had in fact previously predicted that this would be the ninth planet of the solar system. Lowell had previously caused a stir when he claimed that there were canals on Mars. This turned out not to be so. Yet was rewarded on the 18th of February seeking Tombough. He compared the pictures ?? s and discovered a moving point of light. On March 30, the birthday of Percival Lowell, the discovery was announced. From that day the Solar System had nine planets.
The new planet had to have a name. Some people, including the widow of Lowell, Lowell thought that the name would be the most appropriate. Finally Lowell was based on the orbit of Uranus calculated where the planet was. Many other people felt that going very far and it seemed better to choose a name from ancient history. Eventually, an eleven year old girl on the idea to name the planet Pluto. The planet is not distracted by the dog of Mickey Mouse, but the Roman god of the underworld. It was a bonus that the first two letters of Pluto, PL, were the initials of Percival Lowell. It later emerged that Lowell's calculations did not make sense. Unmanned spacecraft that explored the solar system, discovered that the orbit of Uranus was different than Lowell had expected. It even appeared that no ninth planet was needed to explain the motions of Uranus. Added to that Pluto is much too light with its gravity to exert any influence on Uranus. The planet is much smaller than the moon, and as many as 500 times smaller than the Earth. The ninth planet was thus not found on the basis of Lowell's calculations. Tombough Pluto was found by accident. In retrospect, it is perhaps just as well that the planet is not Lowell had been called.
Astronomers have in recent years discovered more than 600 pieces, all of which are approximately the same orbit around the sun as Pluto. That group of celestial bodies is called the Kuiper Belt. The astronomers think that this belt consisting of more than 100,000 pieces, of which Pluto is the largest resident. According to many it is therefore strange to count Pluto to planets. The name comet or asteroid would have been more appropriate as it is to them. Others say that Pluto is indeed a planet. According to them must meet a planet with two things: first, a planet must orbit around the sun. Although Pluto's orbit is quite skewed, he meets this requirement. Secondly, a planet must be spherical. Also meets this requirement Pluto, while most of the lumps in the solar system have an irregular shape.
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune each have quite a lot of moons. Pluto has only one. Charon, as the moon is called, is half the size of Pluto. The distance between them is only 20,000 kilometers. The distance between the earth and the moon is nearly 385 000 kilometers. Charon running so not really in orbit around Pluto: Both celestial bodies rotate around each other as they together describe an orbit around the sun. Therefore nowadays the two are also called a double planet.
Pluto was previously the only planet that has never been visited by a spacecraft. On January 19, 2006 that changed. NASA sent when namely the New Horizons space. This unmanned spacecraft will study Pluto, Charon and the Kuiper Belt. The ship is expected to be in July 2015 to.
The name Pluto is named after the Roman god of the underworld. The Romans and ancient Greeks thought that they would move after their death to this realm. The moon of Pluto is named after the ferryman Charon. He brought the dead with a boat across the river Styx to Hades. Each dead had to pay a coin to the ferryman. The people of antiquity were therefore with so ?? n coin buried under their tongue. Dead who were buried without coin were excluded by Charon to Hades.