Name No matter what it is called, Pluto is still out there.

No spacecraft
has yet landed on Pluto, but we do know some things about it. It was
discovered by an American astronomer whose name was Clyde
Tombaugh. No, it was not named for the Disney character. Pluto gets
Is Pluto a Planet? its name from the Roman god of the underworld.
By Patti Hutchison Pluto travels in a very elliptical orbit. From 1979 to 1999, Pluto
was actually closer to the sun than Neptune. But this will not happen
Caption: Size again for another 230 years. The closest Pluto gets to the sun is about
comparison of Earth and 4.7 billion kilometers. At the farthest point in its orbit, it is about 7.4
its moon to Pluto and billion kilometers from the sun. It takes Pluto 248 Earth years to
Charon make one complete orbit. Pluto also has a slow rate of rotation. Its
day is equal to about six Earth days.
It is; it isn't. It is, but
with some restrictions. No, Because Pluto is so far away, it is hard to see, even with very
it isn't. Yes, it is, sort of. powerful telescopes. In 2015 a space probe called New Horizons
These are the arguments flew by Pluto and gave us the first detailed images of Pluto's surface.
about poor Pluto. Is it a Scientists believe it is made up of a rocky core that is covered with
planet, or isn't it? frozen water, nitrogen, and methane. Some areas are very white like
snow; others are very dark. Pluto has very weak gravity. If you
Pluto was once thought of as the smallest planet. It was also weigh 100 pounds on Earth, you would only weigh eight pounds on
known as the coldest planet since it is the farthest from the sun. It Pluto!
was discovered in 1930. Since then, scientists have had trouble
deciding if it really is a planet or not. If you're going to Pluto, you'd better take your warm jacket. The
average temperature there is -215 degrees Celsius. From Pluto, the
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) made some sun looks like a bright star in the sky. Pluto has no air to breathe.
new "planetary rules." According to the new rules, a true planet must
do three things. First, it must orbit the sun. Secondly, it must be big Pluto has five known moons. The largest one, Charon, is more
enough for gravity to make it into a round ball. And lastly, it must than half the size of Pluto. Like Pluto, Charon is covered with ice.
have cleared out its orbital neighborhood. There can't be any "junk" About 70% of Charon is thought to be frozen water. The two bodies
floating around it. are in mutually synchronous orbit. This means that Charon is
spinning at the same speed that it is going around Pluto. They always
Let's look at these criteria in terms of Pluto. It does follow rule keep the same side facing each other. If you were to look at Charon
number one. It orbits the sun. How about rule number two? Yes, it from Pluto, it would not appear to rise or set. It would seem like it
follows rule number two. It is a round ball. was just floating in space. The same would be true if you stood on
Charon and looked at Pluto.
Rule number three is where Pluto gets into trouble. Its
"neighborhood" is full of junk. Pluto is a part of the Kuiper Belt.
This is a disc-shaped belt of icy particles. Scientists think Pluto is the
largest object in the Kuiper Belt.

So, just what is Pluto, anyway? The IAU defines it as a dwarf

planet. This means that it meets rules one and two. But it has not
cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. It is also not a satellite,
which meets rule number four for a dwarf planet.
 6. If you visited Pluto, you would weigh more there than you do
Name on Earth.
A. true
B. false
Is Pluto a Planet?

Questions Explain in your own words why Pluto is no longer considered to be a

planet.
Find out more about the New Horizons space mission to Pluto. Write
1. What does IAU stand for? a paragraph telling about its goals and what it accomplished.

2. Why is Pluto considered to be a dwarf planet?

3. A disk-shaped belt of icy particles in Pluto's orbital

neighborhood is called:
A. the Kuiper Belt
B. Ceres
C. Charon

4. Sometimes Pluto is closer to the sun than Neptune.

A. true
B. false

5. How many Earth years does it take Pluto to orbit the sun?
A. 6
B. 4.7 billion
C. 248