First you eliminate dear Pluto from our solar system and now you bring it back into the Solar System. If I were Pluto, I would be pretty miffed about this whole thing. Whatever had happened to My Very Excited Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas, was not good. But, nonetheless, she is back to serve us pizzas after 13 long years. It is yet again classified as a planet because of its geology, atmospheres, seasons, moons, cores which make it similar to all the other planets in the solar system.
Pluto was discovered and classified as a planet in 1930. Let us find out a bit more about this planet which has been garnering such interest over its existence. Before being demoted to a mere "dwarf planet" from a "Planet", Pluto enjoyed its classification as a privileged planet in our Solar System. But all was not well for the hero of our story. The International Astronomical Union intervened Pluto's happy existence (in the Solar System as well as our text books) by terming it as a non-planet as it had several other similar sized planets around it. Also at times Pluto's orbit overlapped Neptune's orbit.
Ever wondered if this controversial planet was named after Disney's favorite dog- Pluto? Well, then you are misinformed. The name was given in 1930 by a 11 year old girl who thought that it would be good to name it after the underworld ruling Roman God- Pluto, since the planet itself was so far away and dark. The girl was later rewarded with five pounds.
In comparison to earth which takes 1 year to complete its orbit around the sun, Pluto being the farthest planet from the sun, takes 248 Earth years to complete one orbit. The rising and setting of the sun happens once a week compared to once a day on earth. So if you manage to live 60 years on Pluto, you would have lived 14,880 years on earth. That's living a life of eternity!
The one thing we are yet to do is send a spacecraft to Pluto. This will be accomplished soon as well; with NASA having launched its first mission to Pluto called 'New Horizons' in 2006. The spacecraft is destined to reach Pluto by July 2015. So let's say we can expect a little more controversy around our favorite planet again next year. Amidst the identity crisis Pluto is currently facing, I'm sure it would not complain the little attention coming its way.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8767160In July 2015 the NASA space probe New Horizons, will take center stage in the world media when it passes by Pluto. Launched in 2006 it used a Jupiter gravity assist to accelerate to a speed of 82,000 kilometers per hour (51,000 mph) and is now nearing the end of a 9 year voyage. Pluto is the last of the major bodies in the solar system to be visited by spacecraft from Earth. Although Pluto has recently been re-designated a dwarf planet, the general public and even many in the scientific community still consider it one of the "original nine" planets.
Pluto was discovered in 1930 by American astronomer, Clyde Tombaugh. Observations of the planet Uranus had shown a slight orbital disturbance that could not be entirely explained by the presence of the eighth planet, Neptune. Astronomers concluded there had to be another undiscovered planet even further out. Calculations pointed to an area of the sky where this unknown planet must be and after a year of searching, Tombaugh found it.
It soon became apparent Pluto was too small to be the mysterious "Planet X" he was searching for. Even so, it was mysterious enough in its own right. Despite its great distance we've been able to determine Pluto has an atmosphere and at least five moons, one of them more than half as big as Pluto itself. Calculations of its mass based on moon observations indicate it is probably a tiny, ice-covered rocky world, quite unlike the other outer planets. This will in no way make it an uninteresting encounter. Pluto is thought to be similar to other large bodies in the Kuiper Belt, the material beyond Pluto left over from the formation of the solar system, unchanged after billions of years.
New Horizons will not orbit Pluto. Instead it will perform a flyby. The probe was unable to carry the amount of fuel needed to slow down and reach orbit because of weight restrictions. As a consolation there will be the opportunity to carry on and intercept one or more Kuiper Belt Objects later on.
New Horizons weighs just over 1,000 pounds. Its scientific payload was designed to answer four basic questions:
What does the surface look like?
Are there any large geological features?
What is the composition of the atmosphere?
How does the solar wind react with the atmosphere?
At Pluto's distance, radio signals returning the data will take more than four hours to reach Earth. Much of that data will only be of interest to planetary scientists but the general public will be amazed by the pictures from New Horizons's visible light camera that will have a resolution of roughly 100 meters at closest approach. Four filters, each one covering a different wavelength, will be used to make color maps. It can also scan in the infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths. New Horizons's radio package is specially equipped to analyze signals in the latter stages of the flyby when transmissions from Earth will have to pass through Pluto's atmosphere to reach the probe, thereby helping to identify the specific gasses it's made of. The final mission profile is subject to change depending on any significant new discoveries made in the months before arrival but the current plan is as follows:
In December 2014, New Horizons will be taken out of electronic hibernation for the last time before the Pluto encounter. Scientific observations will begin in January, 2015. At ten weeks out, the on board cameras will be able to see greater detail than the earth-orbiting Hubble telescope. Four weeks away, daily observations begin. On July 14, 2015, New Horizons will make its closest approach to Pluto at a distance of 10,000 kilometers traveling at 14 km/s (31,000 mph). Fourteen minutes later it will pass within 27,000 km of Pluto's largest moon, Charon. Studies and measurements will continue for four weeks after. Then New Horizons will use its remaining fuel to be redirected to an as yet undetermined Kuiper Belt Object to perform similar experiments.
Affixed to the side of New Horizons is a CD in which 430,000 people signed up to have their name put on. They will no doubt be the envy of all their friends. But the person most envied will be Clyde Tombaugh himself since the payload also includes one ounce of his ashes. It's fitting that the man who discovered Pluto will also be the first to reach it.
Ever wondered if this controversial planet was named after Disney's favorite dog- Pluto? Well, then you are misinformed. The name was given in 1930 by a 11 year old girl who thought that it would be good to name it after the underworld ruling Roman God- Pluto, since the planet itself was so far away and dark. The girl was later rewarded with five pounds.
In comparison to earth which takes 1 year to complete its orbit around the sun, Pluto being the farthest planet from the sun, takes 248 Earth years to complete one orbit. The rising and setting of the sun happens once a week compared to once a day on earth. So if you manage to live 60 years on Pluto, you would have lived 14,880 years on earth. That's living a life of eternity!
The one thing we are yet to do is send a spacecraft to Pluto. This will be accomplished soon as well; with NASA having launched its first mission to Pluto called 'New Horizons' in 2006. The spacecraft is destined to reach Pluto by July 2015. So let's say we can expect a little more controversy around our favorite planet again next year. Amidst the identity crisis Pluto is currently facing, I'm sure it would not complain the little attention coming its way.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8767160In July 2015 the NASA space probe New Horizons, will take center stage in the world media when it passes by Pluto. Launched in 2006 it used a Jupiter gravity assist to accelerate to a speed of 82,000 kilometers per hour (51,000 mph) and is now nearing the end of a 9 year voyage. Pluto is the last of the major bodies in the solar system to be visited by spacecraft from Earth. Although Pluto has recently been re-designated a dwarf planet, the general public and even many in the scientific community still consider it one of the "original nine" planets.
Pluto was discovered in 1930 by American astronomer, Clyde Tombaugh. Observations of the planet Uranus had shown a slight orbital disturbance that could not be entirely explained by the presence of the eighth planet, Neptune. Astronomers concluded there had to be another undiscovered planet even further out. Calculations pointed to an area of the sky where this unknown planet must be and after a year of searching, Tombaugh found it.
It soon became apparent Pluto was too small to be the mysterious "Planet X" he was searching for. Even so, it was mysterious enough in its own right. Despite its great distance we've been able to determine Pluto has an atmosphere and at least five moons, one of them more than half as big as Pluto itself. Calculations of its mass based on moon observations indicate it is probably a tiny, ice-covered rocky world, quite unlike the other outer planets. This will in no way make it an uninteresting encounter. Pluto is thought to be similar to other large bodies in the Kuiper Belt, the material beyond Pluto left over from the formation of the solar system, unchanged after billions of years.
New Horizons will not orbit Pluto. Instead it will perform a flyby. The probe was unable to carry the amount of fuel needed to slow down and reach orbit because of weight restrictions. As a consolation there will be the opportunity to carry on and intercept one or more Kuiper Belt Objects later on.
New Horizons weighs just over 1,000 pounds. Its scientific payload was designed to answer four basic questions:
What does the surface look like?
Are there any large geological features?
What is the composition of the atmosphere?
How does the solar wind react with the atmosphere?
At Pluto's distance, radio signals returning the data will take more than four hours to reach Earth. Much of that data will only be of interest to planetary scientists but the general public will be amazed by the pictures from New Horizons's visible light camera that will have a resolution of roughly 100 meters at closest approach. Four filters, each one covering a different wavelength, will be used to make color maps. It can also scan in the infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths. New Horizons's radio package is specially equipped to analyze signals in the latter stages of the flyby when transmissions from Earth will have to pass through Pluto's atmosphere to reach the probe, thereby helping to identify the specific gasses it's made of. The final mission profile is subject to change depending on any significant new discoveries made in the months before arrival but the current plan is as follows:
In December 2014, New Horizons will be taken out of electronic hibernation for the last time before the Pluto encounter. Scientific observations will begin in January, 2015. At ten weeks out, the on board cameras will be able to see greater detail than the earth-orbiting Hubble telescope. Four weeks away, daily observations begin. On July 14, 2015, New Horizons will make its closest approach to Pluto at a distance of 10,000 kilometers traveling at 14 km/s (31,000 mph). Fourteen minutes later it will pass within 27,000 km of Pluto's largest moon, Charon. Studies and measurements will continue for four weeks after. Then New Horizons will use its remaining fuel to be redirected to an as yet undetermined Kuiper Belt Object to perform similar experiments.
Affixed to the side of New Horizons is a CD in which 430,000 people signed up to have their name put on. They will no doubt be the envy of all their friends. But the person most envied will be Clyde Tombaugh himself since the payload also includes one ounce of his ashes. It's fitting that the man who discovered Pluto will also be the first to reach it.
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