Pluto
In 1930 Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh. It was considered to be the ninth planet in our solar system. Charon was later discovered in 1978 as one of Pluto’s moons. On August 24, 2006 we classified Pluto no longer a planet but a dwarf planet. Therefore we discovered that Charon and Pluto orbit each other, so Charon is also a dwarf planet. Pluto was classified as one of the largest members in the Kuiper Belt. Pluto is known to be the only dwarf planet with an atmosphere.
Pluto's Features
Since we are so far away from Pluto we know very little about it’s surface, but we predict it is composed mostly of rock and ice similar to many other dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt. Since Pluto is so far away from the sun it takes 5 hours for sunlight to reach it, it takes 8 minutes for it to reach Earth. It is also estimated that a day on Pluto lasts 6 days 9 hours and 17 minutes. We have estimated Pluto’s diameter to be less than ⅕ of Earth. Since Pluto is so small many astronomers believe it would be classified a comet if it were closer to the sun.
Pluto's Orbit
Pluto’s orbit around the sun follows or is the same as Neptune's orbit around the sun. It takes Pluto 248 years to complete a full orbit of the sun; this makes a year on Pluto 248 years. Pluto was actually closer to the Sun than Neptune for 20 years of its 248 year rotation, then in 1999 it crossed Neptune’s orbit.
Charon
Charon was discovered by astronomer James Christy using a telescope on June 22, 1978. Charon was considered the biggest of Pluto’s five satellites. Pluto’s other satellites are fairly small Hydra, Nix, P5, and P4. Charon is nearly just as big as Pluto so many astronomers call them a “double planet”. Charon is made of ice and rock, similar to Pluto. Astronomers have discovered that Pluto and Charon rotate each other therefore it is considered a dwarf planet
Kuiper Belt
The Kuiper Belt is a disk-like zone that contains trillions of comets. The Kuiper Belt was discovered by Gerald Kuiper beyond the orbit of Neptune. Pluto and Eris are the best known dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt. The Kuiper Belt is believed to be the home of comets that orbit our sun.
Citations
Information:
http://facts.randomhistory.com/pluto-facts.html
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/10-interesting-facts-about-pluto.html
http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/news/science/topics/pluto_planet/index.html
http://www.space.com/43-pluto-the-ninth-planet-that-was-a-dwarf.html
http://www.space.com/16535-plutos-moons.html http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Pluto
Photos:
<http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/images/1122-pluto-dwarf-planet/9074409-1-eng-US/1122-pluto-dwarf-planet_full_600.jpg>
<http://ut-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/KBO_HiRes_CROP.jpg>
<http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/425/overrides/eris-dwarf-planet-cold-pluto_42531_600x450.jpg>
<http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/425/overrides/eris-dwarf-planet-cold-pluto_42531_600x450.jpg>
http://facts.randomhistory.com/pluto-facts.html
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/10-interesting-facts-about-pluto.html
http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/news/science/topics/pluto_planet/index.html
http://www.space.com/43-pluto-the-ninth-planet-that-was-a-dwarf.html
http://www.space.com/16535-plutos-moons.html http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Pluto
Photos:
<http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/images/1122-pluto-dwarf-planet/9074409-1-eng-US/1122-pluto-dwarf-planet_full_600.jpg>
<http://ut-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/KBO_HiRes_CROP.jpg>
<http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/425/overrides/eris-dwarf-planet-cold-pluto_42531_600x450.jpg>
<http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/425/overrides/eris-dwarf-planet-cold-pluto_42531_600x450.jpg>