Fast Facts about Pluto:
Orbit around Sun: 90 465 Earth days
Rotation: 6 Earth days and 9 Earth hours
Mass: 0.02% of Earth
Volume: 1% of Earth
Distance from Sun: 5869 million kilometers
Average Temperature: -234 degrees celcius
Atmosphere: methane, nitrogen
Diameter: 2390 kilometers
Number of Moons: 2 (Charon and Nix)
What Pluto means...
Pluto was thought to be the god to whom all men must eventually go. Romans believed him to be the god of the underworld. In Greek mythology, he is known as Hades.
Interesting Facts...
Did you know that Walt Disney created the droopy-eared cartoon character, Pluto just a few months before Clyde Tombaugh found the planet Pluto? Then in, 1930, an American named Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto.
Pluto is considered the ninth planet from the sun. However, sometimes the paths of Pluto and Neptune cross and Pluto becomes the eighth planet from the sun. As a result, during 1979-1999, Neptune was the most distant planet from the Sun. Even though their paths cross, Pluto and Neptune will never crash because they are 240 million miles away when their orbits cross. Pluto was closest to the Earth in 1999. Now for more than 100 years, Pluto's orbit will carry it farther away from Earth.
The smallest planet, Pluto, is even smaller than the Earth's moon.You need a telescope to see Pluto from the Earth. Even powerful telescopes on Earth show Pluto as just a tiny circle with no surface markings. The warmest it ever gets on Pluto is -350 degrees fahrenheit. It takes Pluto 248 Earth years to revolve once around the sun. A day on Pluto equals six days and nine hours in Earth time. Most of Pluto's surface is frozen nitrogen and methane. There may also be frozen ethane water and ammonia, as well as rock.
The Lowell Observatory scientists discovered Pluto's moon Charon, in 1978. Charon's orbit around Pluto takes about as long as a Pluto day. If someone stood on Pluto's surface, it would appear that Charon is standing still in the sky.
In 1998 and 1999 some scientists suggested that Pluto should not be a planet due to its small size. However, Pluto has lots of fans and for now it is still a planet. Before Pluto was discovered, astronomers thought that a planet beyond Neptune that they couldn't see was pulling Uranus and Neptune. Astronomers now know that Pluto is too small to affect the orbits of Uranus and Neptune to any great extent. Some scientists believe there is a tenth planet out there, yet to be discovered. This mystery planet is nicknamed Planet X.
Link:
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/pluto.htm
Orbit around Sun: 90 465 Earth days
Rotation: 6 Earth days and 9 Earth hours
Mass: 0.02% of Earth
Volume: 1% of Earth
Distance from Sun: 5869 million kilometers
Average Temperature: -234 degrees celcius
Atmosphere: methane, nitrogen
Diameter: 2390 kilometers
Number of Moons: 2 (Charon and Nix)
What Pluto means...
Pluto was thought to be the god to whom all men must eventually go. Romans believed him to be the god of the underworld. In Greek mythology, he is known as Hades.
Interesting Facts...
Did you know that Walt Disney created the droopy-eared cartoon character, Pluto just a few months before Clyde Tombaugh found the planet Pluto? Then in, 1930, an American named Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto.
Pluto is considered the ninth planet from the sun. However, sometimes the paths of Pluto and Neptune cross and Pluto becomes the eighth planet from the sun. As a result, during 1979-1999, Neptune was the most distant planet from the Sun. Even though their paths cross, Pluto and Neptune will never crash because they are 240 million miles away when their orbits cross. Pluto was closest to the Earth in 1999. Now for more than 100 years, Pluto's orbit will carry it farther away from Earth.
The smallest planet, Pluto, is even smaller than the Earth's moon.You need a telescope to see Pluto from the Earth. Even powerful telescopes on Earth show Pluto as just a tiny circle with no surface markings. The warmest it ever gets on Pluto is -350 degrees fahrenheit. It takes Pluto 248 Earth years to revolve once around the sun. A day on Pluto equals six days and nine hours in Earth time. Most of Pluto's surface is frozen nitrogen and methane. There may also be frozen ethane water and ammonia, as well as rock.
The Lowell Observatory scientists discovered Pluto's moon Charon, in 1978. Charon's orbit around Pluto takes about as long as a Pluto day. If someone stood on Pluto's surface, it would appear that Charon is standing still in the sky.
In 1998 and 1999 some scientists suggested that Pluto should not be a planet due to its small size. However, Pluto has lots of fans and for now it is still a planet. Before Pluto was discovered, astronomers thought that a planet beyond Neptune that they couldn't see was pulling Uranus and Neptune. Astronomers now know that Pluto is too small to affect the orbits of Uranus and Neptune to any great extent. Some scientists believe there is a tenth planet out there, yet to be discovered. This mystery planet is nicknamed Planet X.
Link:
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/pluto.htm