To ensure that you continue to receive these e-mails, please add ezine@gophercentral.com to your e-mail address book.


Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Yesterday history was made when the New Horizons spacecraft flew by Pluto. Now, all nine of the solar system's traditionally recognized planets have now been visited by a robotic spacecraft - a massive undertaking begun in 1962 when NASA's Mariner 2 probe zoomed past Venus.

So what do we know about this erstwhile planet at the edge of our solar system?

Email the Editor



Today's Random Fact:

There are no longer nine officially recognized planets. The International Astronomical Union famously reclassified Pluto as a "dwarf planet" in 2006, in a decision that remains controversial today.

Pluto was discovered in 1930 by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, and the dwarf planet has remained mysterious ever since.

Astronomers didn't know Pluto had any moons until 1978, when the dwarf planet's big satellite, Charon, was first spotted. At 750 miles in diameter, Charon is about half as wide as Pluto itself. Furthermore, the two bodies' center of gravity lies outside the dwarf planet, so many researchers regard Pluto-Charon as a binary system.

***
Bonus Fact:

Pluto's surface seems to be much younger than Charon's gray facade, New Horizons leader Alan Stern said in a press conference. Its relative lack of impact craters suggest the dwarf planet's surface is renewing, either by geological or atmospheric activity, such as erosion.