PLUTO

Pluto is the farthest known planet in the solar system. Nearly six billion kilometers from the Sun, Pluto is a very small and lonely world. It is not a gas planet like its four closest neighbors, and is smaller than Earth's own moon! Many scientists question whether or not Pluto is even a planet at all. Some think that Pluto and it's moon Charon are instead moons from other planets that went astray. Pluto, made of ice and frozen gases resembles a moon of the gas giants more than some of the gas giants' own moons! Perhaps Pluto is a moon of Neptune sent into a new orbit by a yet unknown, distant tenth planet? There is no hard evidence to support this theory, but only science and time will tell.

Fun Pluto Facts:

• A person weighing 50 kg on Earth would weigh 1.5 kg on Pluto.
• Pluto's moon Charon is nearly the same size as Pluto itself!

Why we can't live on Pluto:

• SURFACE: Pluto is a terrestrial planet, and has a rocky surface.
• ATMOSPHERE: Pluto's atmosphere is very very thin, and made of methane and nitrogen.
• WATER: ??? We don't know enough about Pluto right now to tell.
• TEMPERATURE: ??? Scientists do not yet know the surface temperature of Pluto.

• University of Michigan's "Windows to the Universe"
• ISPEC Student Presentations: Pluto
• StarDate's Pluto Page

 

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