Pluto (2 mb)Pluto — The Former Ninth Planet of the Solar System
Description:
Up until 2006, Pluto was the ninth planet in the Solar System. In 2006 the International Astronomical Union set up new guidelines for qualifications of a planet, and Pluto didn't meet all the qualifications. Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet. Pluto is an astounding distance of 3,670,050,000 miles from the Sun. Pluto is very small, even smaller than seven of the moons found in the solar system. Much more is known about the other planets in the solar system, partly because Pluto has not been visited by a spacecraft. Also, at such a great distance from Earth, even the Hubble Space Telescope has difficulty viewing Pluto in any real detail. It has been determined that Pluto has a bright layer of methane, nitrogen and carbon monoxide. When Pluto is farthest from the sun, these gases freeze and coat the dwarf planet, but when Pluto is closest to the sun they thaw expand and create a very thin atmosphere.
Some of the detail that is visible on Pluto is the presence of polar ice caps as well as large dark spots near the equator. The surface temperature of Pluto varies between -391°F and -346°F. The " warmer" temperatures loosely correspond to the darker areas. Pluto has three known satellites, the largest of which is Charon. Charon’s diameter is over half the diameter of Pluto, making Charon the biggest moon with respect to the planet it orbits. Because of this, Pluto is often referred to as a double planet. A new mission called New Horizons was launched in 2006 and is expected to fly by Pluto in 2015 and provide much needed information about Pluto.
Notable Features:
- Polar ice caps
- Bright and dark regions
Data Category
Astronomy
Keywords:
Solar System, dwarf planet
| Data Set Name | Pluto |
| Data Set Directory Name | pluto |
| Data Set Source | Voyager |
| Data Set Developer | William Johnston |
| Visualization Developer | Steve Albers, NOAA/GSD |
| Audio | No |
| Download | FTP |