Download Pluto: Dwarf Planet - ASTR101

Full-discviewofPlutoinnear-truecolour,picturedbyNewHorizons
Pluto:DwarfPlanet
Contributors:
LydiaOwens–Fall2015
Ma;hewSkekel–Fall2013
WilsonManyacka--Spring2013
ASTR101
MikeChu
MontgomeryCollege,Germantown
Pluto’sHistory
•  Discoveredin1930byUSastronomer,
ClydeTombaugh.
•  1992:AstronomersidenUfiedmoreicy
bodiessimilartoPluto
•  2003:Eriswasfound,causing
astronomerstodefinetheterm
‘planet’,whichinturnreclassifiedPluto
toDwarfPlanet
•  In2006theInternaUonalAstronomical
UnionreclassifiedPlutofromPlanetto
DwarfPlanet
•  July2015NewHorizonsspacecra]past
byPlutoandsentimagesbacktoNASA
•  Wasnamedbyali;legirlinEngland
h;ps://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Clyde_Tombaugh
Who/WhatisPluto?
•  Plutoisadwarfplanet
•  PlutohasmoremoonsthanMars
•  Itsorbitissohighlyinclined,andellipUcalenoughtocomeclosertothesunthananyother
planets
•  Onlyhas65%ofthediameterofEarth’smoon
•  VeryhardtoseefromEarth
•  ItsorbitissofarfromtheSunthateventhemostgaseouscompoundswouldfreeze
•  Ittakes248yearstocompleteonerotaUonaroundtheSun
•  ThetemperatureonPlutorangesfrom375to400degreesbelowzero
•  Has1/15thegravitythatwehavehere
•  Accordingtomythology,Plutowasthenameoftheunderworldgod,alsoknownasHades!
•  PlutoislocatedintheKuiperbelt
Pluto’sCharacteristicsand
Components
Plutoiscomposedofrockandice;50%-70%rockand30%-50%ice.
Plutois1/6ththesizeofearth
VisualApparentmagnituderangesfrom15.1to13.65atPerihelion
Plutoissmallandhaslowdensitywhichmeansmuchlessgravity
thanthatonEarth(.066ofEarth’sgravity–100ibpersonweighs
just7ibs)
•  ComposedofCarbonmonoxide,nitrogen,andmethane
• 
• 
• 
• 
h;p://
www.mirror.c
o.uk/news/
technologyscience/
science/plutonew-horizonsliveupdates-60683
22
WhatmakesPlutoadwarf
planet?(viaIAU)
•  becauseitisverysmall,icy,
andisnotJovianor
Terrestrial(likeearth)
•  Sinceithasalmostallofthe
samecharacterisUcsofa
planet,exceptdoesnothave
a“neighborhood”cleared
arounditsorbit,itis
classifiedasaTransNeptunianObject(TNO)
•  Tobeaplanetitmust:bein
orbitaroundthesun;be
massiveenoughtobea
spherebyitsown
gravitaUonalforce;andmust
clearaneighborhoodaround
itsorbit
Pluto’sMoons
•  Plutohas5moons
•  CharonwasthefirstdiscoveredmoonofPlutofoundbyClyde
Tombaugh
•  Theotherfourwererecentlydiscovered,mostrecentlyin1978by
JamesChristy
•  Theirnames:Nix,Kerberos,StyxandHydra
h;p://
solarsystem.nasa.
gov/images/
content/PlutoSystem(NewNames).jpg
Pluto’sFamilyofIcyDwarf
Planets
•  CalledpluUnos,whichisthenamefortheicyobjectsinthe
Kuiperbelt.
•  Formedinoutersolarnebula
•  Maybeasmanyas100millionplanetesimalsintheKuiper
beltsimilartoPluto
•  Someoftheplanetesimalsmayhaveoncebeensomeof
Neptune'smoons
ImagefromWikipediaCommons
NewHorizonsFlyby
•  UnUltheflyby,weknewalmostnothingaboutPluto
•  TheNewHorizonsspacecra]wassentouttoexplorePlutoandthe
KuiperBelt
•  LaunchedJanuary2006
•  FirstflybywasJupiterforagravityboostandtodoscienUficstudies
•  Summer2015,conducted6monthlongreconnaissanceflybystudy
ofPlutoanditsmoons
•  July2015cameclosesttoPluto,thenconUnuedonitsmission
deeperintotheKuiperBelt
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NewScienceonPluto
•  BecauseofNewHorizons,wehavemoreinformaUonofPluto
andPluto’smoons
•  WewillsoonbeabletotellhowPlutoanditsicyPluUno’s
wereformed
•  DiscoveryofstrongultravioletwavelengthabsorberonPluto’s
surfacemeanspossibilityofcomplexhydrocarbonand/or
nitratemoleculeonPluto’ssurface
h;ps://www.nasa.gov/
feature/stunningnightside-imagereveals-pluto-s-hazyskies
Pluto’sIcyMountains
•  Newimagesshownearthe
equatorthereareyoung
mountainsrisingabout11,000
feet
•  Theyformednomorethan100
millionyearsago,young
comparedtotheageofthe
solarsystem
•  MountainsmightsUllbeinthe
processofgrowingeventaller
•  AgeisesUmatedbasedonlack
ofcratersinthearea
ImageCredit:NASA-JHUAPL-SwRI
Whatis“PlutoTime”?
•  ManybelievethatPlutoisa
completelydarkplanet,butin
factifyouweretolook
outsideyourhousearound
duskorsunset,itwouldbe
verysimilartothedaily
brightnessonPluto.
•  NASAbeganasocialmedia
campaigncalled“#PlutoTime”
andpeopleallovertheworld
begansendingimagesoftheir
“PlutoTime”
•  Theimageisamosaicofmany
oftheimagesofpeople’sown
neighborhoodsentin
ImageCredit:NASA/JPL
“PlutoUme”imagefromtheBergiusBotanicalGarden
h;p://monochrome.suUc.nu/2015/06/18/pluto-Ume-at-the-bergiusbotanic-garden.html
Questions
ThefollowingquesUonswillbeansweredinthePowerPoint:
•  WhyisPlutoclassifiedasadwarfplanet?
•  WhofoundPluto?
•  HowdidPlutogetitsname?
•  WhatdidNewHorizonsdiscoverorfind?
•  WhatisPlutolike?
Sources
•  Backman,DanaE.,Seeds,MichaelA.Texbook.“HorizonsExploringtheUniverse”
EleventhEdiUon.2010.
•  Talbert,Tricia.“NewHorizons:TheFirstMissionToThePlutoSystemandtheKuiper
Belt”.Web.24Aug.2015.NaUonalAeronauUcsandSpaceAdministraUon.27Oct.
2015.h;p://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/overview/index.html
•  Dunbar,Brian.“WhatisPluto”Web.16Sept2015.NaUonalAeronauUcsandSpace
AdministraUon.27Oct.2015.
h;p://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-ismicrogravity-k4.html
•  Talbert,Tricia.TheIcyMountainsofPluto.Web.4Nov2015.NaUonalAeronauUcs
andSpaceAdministraUon.15July2015.
h;ps://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/the-icy-mountains-of-pluto
•  NASA(nodate)Howmanymoons?Share:(funcCon(d,s,id){varjs,Is=
d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(d.getElementById(id))return;js=
d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=‘//connect.facebook.net/en_US/
sdk.js#xYml=1&appId=121998447847202&version=v2.0’;Is.p.Availableat:
h;p://spaceplace.nasa.gov/how-many-moons/en/(Accessed:4December
2015).h;p://spaceplace.nasa.gov/how-many-moons/en/
•  Cain,F.(2015)WhodiscoveredPluto?.Availableat:h;p://www.universetoday.com/46228/
who-discovered-pluto/(Accessed:4December2015)
•  Unknown(nodate)ScienceDaily.Availableat:h;p://www.sciencedaily.com/
releases/2011/12/111220133803.htm(Accessed:6December2015).
•  h;p://www.spacestaUoninfo.com/physical-characterisUcs-pluto.htm
•  h;ps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moons_of_Pluto