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Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 50 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Pluto
| What is the diameter of Charon? | Pluto
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806 miles. Very large compared to its parent planet.
| Pluto is most similar to what? | Pluto
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| What is the diameter of Pluto? | Pluto
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1,426 miles. Pluto is the smallest planet.
| What is the name of Pluto's most well-known moon? | Pluto
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Charon. Charon is named for the mythological ferryman who rowed the dead across the River Styx to the underworld ruled by Pluto.
| As of 2010. how many space probes have visited Pluto? | Pluto
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0. None have yet visited it but, the Pluto-Kuiper Express is on NASA's list of things to do.
| Where is the observatory that Pluto was discovered at located? | Pluto
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| What astronomer tried to predict where a ninth planet would be and was very close to Pluto's actual position (it was at his observatory that Pluto was discovered)? | Pluto
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Percival Lowell. If you've taken my Mars quiz you should remember that he was also very interested in Mars and it's 'canals'. The Lowell Observatory was built by him and has been operational for almost a century.
| How far is Pluto (on average) from the sun? | Pluto
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3.7 billion miles. A very cold, very desolate place to be.
| Pluto was discovered on what date? | Pluto
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February 18, 1930. Discovered very recently, compared to the other planets and their discoveries.
| Of what is Pluto the Roman god? | Pluto
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the dead. A fitting name, not just because Pluto is so cold and far away, but because the name combines the letters P and L, the initials of the planets 'godfather,' Percival Lowell.
Yes. In 1990 the Hubble Space Telescope was able to photograph the pair.
James Christy. James Christy discovered Charon in 1978.
19,640 kilometers. This is only 17 Pluto diameters. The diameter of the Earth is 12,700 kilometers, so the distance between Pluto and Charon is just half again the diameter of the Earth!
122 degrees. Pluto rotates on its side, similar to Uranus.
Underworld. For the Roman god of the Underworld. The first two letters of Pluto are also the initials of Percival Lowell. Mr. Lowell built the Lowell Observatory where Pluto was discovered.
2178. It takes Pluto 248.5 years to revolve around the Sun. 2010 is when Neptune will complete its first orbit since discovery. 2426 is when Pluto will complete its second orbit since discovery. 1930 is the year Pluto was discovered.
Clyde Tombaugh. Clyde Tombaugh was hired at Lowell Observatory in 1929, he found Pluto the year later. Clyde Tombaugh passed away on January 17, 1997, he was 90 years old.
Lowell observatory in Arizona. Pluto was discovered in 1930. Pluto is so far away, that no spacecraft has yet to visit. A Pluto mission, named, New Horizons is on its way to Pluto in 2015.
One. The first satellite discovered is Charon. It was named for the boatman of myth who ferried the dead to the underworld. Two additional satellites - Nix and Hydra - were confirmed on 2/24/06 and a fourth one was found in 2011.
6.3 Earth days. An interesting fact about Pluto is that only one other world in the Solar System has more contrast in its surface coloration and that is Saturn's satellite Iapetus.
2.03 that of water. Although Pluto's composition is unknown, its density indicates that it is probably a mixture of 30 percent water ice and about 70 percent rock. The ice on Pluto is as hard as rock.
.0022 times that of Earth. You would weigh very little on the smallest planet in the Solar System.
5.9 billion kilometers. Pluto is 39.5 Astronomical Units from the Sun. At this distance, the Sun appears as a fairly bright star.
nitrogen. Methane and carbon monoxide also exist in Pluto's atmosphere but in smaller amounts.
| Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006. What is the name of the
largest dwarf planet? | What Happened To Pluto?
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Eris. Eris is named for the Greek goddess of strife. Due to its large size, Eris was once believed to be the tenth planet.
New Horizons. Launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida in 2006, New Horizons is expected to reach Pluto in 2015, nearly a decade after its launch. It passed Jupiter in early 2007.
an area of the Solar System beyond the orbit of Neptune. Pluto is now considered to be the largest object in the Kuiper Belt, named for astronomer Gerard Kuiper. The Kuiper belt extends beyond Neptune's orbit.
plutoid. A plutoid is a dwarf planet that is further out in space than Neptune.
elliptical. Not only is Pluto's orbit elliptical, or oval-shaped, its orbit crosses the orbit of Neptune.
Pu. The atomic number for plutonium is 94. It is considered a metal.
Charon, Nix, Hydra. Pluto's largest moon, Charon, was discovered in 1978 by astronomer James Christy. Nix and Hydra were discovered in 2005 by a team of astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope. Nix is the Greek goddess of darkness and Hydra is the serpent with nine heads. The fourth moon (S/2011 P 1) was discovered in 2011.
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