Pluto

1
Pluto
This article is about the dwarf planet. For other uses, see Pluto (disambiguation).
Pluto
Computer-generated map of Pluto
[1]
and among the highest resolutions possible with current technology.</ref>
Discovery
Discoveredby Clyde W. Tombaugh
Discoverydate February 18, 1930
Designations
MPCdesignation 134340 Pluto
Pronunciation

i
/pluto/
Named after
Pluto
Minorplanet category dwarf planet
TNO
plutoid
KBO
plutino
Adjectives Plutonian
Orbital characteristics
[2]
Epoch J2000
Aphelion 7311000000km
48.871AU
Perihelion 4437000000km
29.657AU
(1989 Sep 05)
Semi-major axis
5874000000km
39.264AU
Eccentricity 0.244671664 (J2000)
0.24880766 (mean)
Orbital period
90465d
247.68 years
14164.4Plutonian solar days
Synodic period
366.73 days
Pluto
2
Average orbital speed
4.7km/s
Mean anomaly
14.86012204
Inclination 17.151394
(11.88 to Sun's equator)
Longitudeof ascendingnode
110.28683
Argumentof perihelion
113.76349
Known satellites 5
Physical characteristics
Mean radius
118410km
0.18 Earths
1161 km (solid)
Surface area
1.66510
7
km
2
0.033 Earths
Volume
6.3910
9
km
3
0.0059Earths
Mass
(1.3050.007)10
22
kg
0.00218Earths
0.178 Moons
Mean density
2.030.06g/cm
3
Surface gravity
0.658 m/s
2
0.067 g
Escape velocity
1.229km/s
Sidereal rotation period
6.387230d
6 d, 9 h, 17 m, 36 s
Equatorial rotationvelocity
47.18km/h
Axial tilt
119.5910.014 (to orbit)
Northpole right ascension
312.993
Northpole declination
6.163
Albedo 0.49 to 0.66 (geometric, varies by 35%)
Surface temp. min mean max
Kelvin 33 K 44 K (229 C) 55 K
Apparent magnitude
13.65 to 16.3
(mean is 15.1)
Absolute magnitude(H)
0.7
Angular diameter
0.065 to 0.115
Atmosphere
Pluto
3
Surface pressure
0.30 Pa (summer maximum)
Composition nitrogen, methane, carbon monoxide
Pluto (minor-planet designation 134340 Pluto) is the largest object in the Kuiper belt, and the tenth-most-massive
body observed directly orbiting the Sun. It is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet, after Eris. Like other
Kuiper-belt objects, Pluto is composed primarily of rock and ice and is relatively small, approximately one-sixth the
mass of the Moon and one-third its volume. It has an eccentric and highly inclined orbit that takes it from 30 to
49AU (4.47.4 billionkm) from the Sun. This causes Pluto to periodically come closer to the Sun than Neptune, but
an orbital resonance with Neptune prevents the bodies from colliding. In 2014 it was 32.6 AU from the Sun.
Discovered in 1930, Pluto was originally classified as the ninth planet from the Sun. Its status as a major planet fell
into question following further study of it and the outer Solar System over the ensuing 75 years. Starting in 1977
with the discovery of the minor planet 2060 Chiron, numerous icy objects similar to Pluto with eccentric orbits were
found. The most notable of these was the scattered disc object Eris, discovered in 2005, which is 27% more massive
than Pluto. The understanding that Pluto is only one of several large icy bodies in the outer Solar System prompted
the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to define formally in 2006 what it means to be a "planet". This
definition excluded Pluto and reclassified it as a member of the new "dwarf planet" category (and specifically as a
plutoid). Astronomers who oppose this decision hold that Pluto should have remained classified as a planet, and that
other dwarf planets and even moons should be added to the roster of planets along with Pluto.
[3]
Pluto has five known moons: Charon (the largest, with a diameter just over half that of Pluto), Nix, Hydra, Kerberos,
and Styx. Pluto and Charon are sometimes described as a binary system because the barycenter of their orbits does
not lie within either body. The IAU has yet to formalise a definition for binary dwarf planets, and Charon is
officially classified as a moon of Pluto.
On July 14, 2015, the Pluto system is due to be visited by spacecraft for the first time. The New Horizons probe will
perform a flyby during which it will attempt to take detailed measurements and images of the plutoid and its moons.
Discovery
Main article: Planets beyond Neptune
In the 1840s, using Newtonian mechanics, Urbain Le Verrier predicted the position of the then-undiscovered planet
Neptune after analysing perturbations in the orbit of Uranus.
[4]
Subsequent observations of Neptune in the late 19th
century caused astronomers to speculate that Uranus' orbit was being disturbed by another planet besides Neptune.
In 1906, Percival Lowell, a wealthy Bostonian who had founded the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, in
1894, started an extensive project in search of a possible ninth planet, which he termed "Planet X". By 1909, Lowell
and William H. Pickering had suggested several possible celestial coordinates for such a planet. Lowell and his
observatory conducted his search until his death in 1916, but to no avail. Unknown to Lowell, on March 19, 1915,
surveys had captured two faint images of Pluto, but they were not recognized for what they were. There are fifteen
other known prediscoveries, with the oldest made by the Yerkes Observatory on August 20, 1909.
Because of a ten-year legal battle with Constance Lowell, Percival's widow, who attempted to wrest the
observatory's million-dollar portion of his legacy for herself, the search for Planet X did not resume until 1929,
[5]
when its director, Vesto Melvin Slipher, summarily handed the job of locating Planet X to Clyde Tombaugh, a
23-year-old Kansan who had just arrived at the Lowell Observatory after Slipher had been impressed by a sample of
his astronomical drawings.
[5]
Tombaugh's task was to systematically image the night sky in pairs of photographs, then examine each pair and
determine whether any objects had shifted position. Using a machine called a blink comparator, he rapidly shifted
back and forth between views of each of the plates to create the illusion of movement of any objects that had
changed position or appearance between photographs. On February 18, 1930, after nearly a year of searching,
Pluto
4
Tombaugh discovered a possible moving object on photographic plates taken on January 23 and January 29 of that
year. A lesser-quality photograph taken on January 21 helped confirm the movement.
[6]
After the observatory
obtained further confirmatory photographs, news of the discovery was telegraphed to the Harvard College
Observatory on March 13, 1930.
Name
Main article: Venetia Burney
The discovery made headlines across the globe. The Lowell Observatory, which had the right to name the new
object, received over 1,000 suggestions from all over the world, ranging from Atlas to Zymal. Tombaugh urged
Slipher to suggest a name for the new object quickly before someone else did. Constance Lowell proposed Zeus,
then Percival and finally Constance. These suggestions were disregarded.
The name Pluto, after the god of the underworld, was proposed by Venetia Burney (19182009), an eleven-year-old
schoolgirl in Oxford, England, who was interested in classical mythology. She suggested it in a conversation with
her grandfather Falconer Madan, a former librarian at the University of Oxford's Bodleian Library, who passed the
name to astronomy professor Herbert Hall Turner, who cabled it to colleagues in the United States.
The object was officially named on March 24, 1930. Each member of the Lowell Observatory was allowed to vote
on a short-list of three: Minerva (which was already the name for an asteroid), Cronus (which had lost reputation
through being proposed by the unpopular astronomer Thomas Jefferson Jackson See), and Pluto. Pluto received
every vote.
[7]
The name was announced on May 1, 1930. Upon the announcement, Madan gave Venetia GB5 (276
as of 2014),
[8]
as a reward.
The choice of name was partly inspired by the fact that the first two letters of Pluto are the initials of Percival
Lowell, and Pluto's astronomical symbol ( , unicode U+2647, ) is a monogram constructed from the letters 'PL'.
Pluto's astrological symbol resembles that of Neptune ( ), but has a circle in place of the middle prong of the
trident ( ).
The name was soon embraced by wider culture. In 1930, Walt Disney was apparently inspired by it when he
introduced for Mickey Mouse a canine companion named Pluto, although Disney animator Ben Sharpsteen could not
confirm why the name was given. In 1941, Glenn T. Seaborg named the newly created element plutonium after
Pluto, in keeping with the tradition of naming elements after newly discovered planets, following uranium, which
was named after Uranus, and neptunium, which was named after Neptune.
Most languages use the name "Pluto" in various transliterations.
[9]
In Japanese, Houei Nojiri suggested the
translation Meisei (
?
, "King of the Underworld Star") , and this was borrowed into Chinese, Korean, and
Vietnamese. Some Indian languages use the name Pluto, but others such as Hindi use the name of Yama, the
Guardian of Hell in Hindu and Buddhist mythology, as does Vietnamese. Polynesian languages also tend to use the
indigenous god of the underworld, as in Maori Whiro.
Pluto
5
Demise of Planet X
Clyde W. Tombaugh, the discoverer
of Pluto
Mass estimates for Pluto
Year Mass Notes
1931 1 Earth Nicholson & Mayall
1948 0.1 (1/10) Earth Kuiper
1976 0.01 (1/100) Earth
Cruikshank, Pilcher, & Morrison
[10]
1978 0.002 (1/500) Earth Christy & Harrington
2006 0.00218 (1/459) Earth Buie et al.
Once found, Pluto's faintness and lack of a resolvable disc cast doubt on the idea that it was Lowell's Planet X.
Estimates of Pluto's mass were revised downward throughout the 20th century.
Astronomers initially calculated its mass based on its presumed effect on Neptune and Uranus. In 1931 Pluto was
calculated to be roughly the mass of Earth, with further calculations in 1948 bringing the mass down to roughly that
of Mars. In 1976, Dale Cruikshank, Carl Pilcher and David Morrison of the University of Hawaii calculated Pluto's
albedo for the first time, finding that it matched that for methane ice; this meant Pluto had to be exceptionally
luminous for its size and therefore could not be more than 1 percent the mass of Earth.
[10]
(Pluto's albedo is 1.32.0
times greater than that of Earth.)
In 1978, the discovery of Pluto's moon Charon allowed the measurement of Pluto's mass for the first time. Its mass,
roughly 0.2% that of Earth, was far too small to account for the discrepancies in the orbit of Uranus. Subsequent
searches for an alternative Planet X, notably by Robert Sutton Harrington, failed. In 1992, Myles Standish used data
from Voyager 2's 1989 flyby of Neptune, which had revised the planet's total mass downward by 0.5%, to recalculate
its gravitational effect on Uranus. With the new figures added in, the discrepancies, and with them the need for a
Planet X, vanished. Today, the majority of scientists agree that Planet X, as Lowell defined it, does not exist. Lowell
had made a prediction of Planet X's position in 1915 that was fairly close to Pluto's position at that time; Ernest W.
Brown concluded almost immediately that this was a coincidence, a view still held today.
Pluto
6
Orbit and rotation
Pluto's orbit and the ecliptic
Orbit of Plutoecliptic view. This "side view" of
Pluto's orbit (in red) shows its large inclination to
Earth's ecliptic orbital plane.
This diagram shows the relative positions of
Pluto (red) and Neptune (blue) on selected dates.
The size of Neptune and Pluto is depicted as
inversely proportional to the distance between
them to emphasise the closest approach in 1896.
Pluto's orbital period is 248 Earth years. Its orbital characteristics are
substantially different from those of the planets, which follow nearly
circular orbits around the Sun close to a flat reference plane called the
ecliptic. In contrast, Pluto's orbit is highly inclined relative to the
ecliptic (over 17) and highly eccentric (elliptical). This high
eccentricity means a small region of Pluto's orbit lies nearer the Sun
than Neptune's. The PlutoCharon barycenter came to perihelion on
September 5, 1989, and was last closer to the Sun than Neptune
between February 7, 1979, and February 11, 1999. Pluto and Neptune
make their closest approach when it is at 27.960 AU.
In the long term, Pluto's orbit is in fact chaotic. Although computer
simulations can be used to predict its position for several million years
(both forward and backward in time), after intervals longer than the
Lyapunov time of 1020 million years, calculations become
speculative: Pluto is sensitive to unmeasurably small details of the
Solar System, hard-to-predict factors that will gradually disrupt its
orbit. Millions of years from now, Pluto may well be at aphelion, at
perihelion or anywhere in between, with no way for us to predict
which. This does not mean Pluto's orbit itself is unstable, but its
position on that orbit is impossible to determine so far ahead. Several
resonances and other dynamical effects keep Pluto's orbit stable, safe
from planetary collision or scattering.
Pluto
7
Relationship with Neptune
Orbit of Plutopolar view. This "view from
above" shows how Pluto's orbit (in red) is less
circular than Neptune's (in blue), and how Pluto
is sometimes closer to the Sun than Neptune. The
darker halves of both orbits show where they pass
below the plane of the ecliptic.
Despite Pluto's orbit appearing to cross that of Neptune when viewed
from directly above, the two objects' orbits are aligned so that they can
never collide or even approach closely. There are several reasons why.
At the simplest level, one can examine the two orbits and see that they
do not intersect. When Pluto is closest to the Sun, and hence closest to
Neptune's orbit as viewed from above, it is also the farthest above
Neptune's path. Pluto's orbit passes about 8 AU above that of Neptune,
preventing a collision. Pluto's ascending and descending nodes, the
points at which its orbit crosses the ecliptic, are currently separated
from Neptune's by over 21.
This alone is not enough to protect Pluto; perturbations from the
planets (especially Neptune) could alter aspects of Pluto's orbit (such
as its orbital precession) over millions of years so that a collision could
be possible. Some other mechanism or mechanisms must therefore be
at work. The most significant of these is that Pluto lies in the 2:3 mean
motion resonance with Neptune: for every two orbits that Pluto makes
around the Sun, Neptune makes three. The two objects then return to
their initial positions and the cycle repeats, each cycle lasting about 500 years. This pattern is such that, in each
500-year cycle, the first time Pluto is near perihelion Neptune is over 50 behind Pluto. By Pluto's second perihelion,
Neptune will have completed a further one and a half of its own orbits, and so will be a similar distance ahead of
Pluto. Pluto and Neptune's minimum separation is over 17AU. Pluto comes closer to Uranus (11AU) than it does to
Neptune.
The 2:3 resonance between the two bodies is highly stable, and is preserved over millions of years. This prevents
their orbits from changing relative to one another; the cycle always repeats in the same way, and so the two bodies
can never pass near to each other. Thus, even if Pluto's orbit were not highly inclined the two bodies could never
collide.
Other factors
Numerical studies have shown that over periods of millions of years, the general nature of the alignment between
Pluto and Neptune's orbits does not change. There are several other resonances and interactions that govern the
details of their relative motion, and enhance Pluto's stability. These arise principally from two additional mechanisms
(besides the 2:3 mean motion resonance).
First, Pluto's argument of perihelion, the angle between the point where it crosses the ecliptic and the point where it
is closest to the Sun, librates around 90. This means that when Pluto is nearest the Sun, it is at its farthest above the
plane of the Solar System, preventing encounters with Neptune. This is a direct consequence of the Kozai
mechanism, which relates the eccentricity of an orbit to its inclination to a larger perturbing bodyin this case
Neptune. Relative to Neptune, the amplitude of libration is 38, and so the angular separation of Pluto's perihelion to
the orbit of Neptune is always greater than 52 (= 9038). The closest such angular separation occurs every 10,000
years.
Second, the longitudes of ascending nodes of the two bodiesthe points where they cross the eclipticare in
near-resonance with the above libration. When the two longitudes are the samethat is, when one could draw a
straight line through both nodes and the SunPluto's perihelion lies exactly at 90, and hence it comes closest to the
Sun at its maximally above Neptune's orbit. This is known as the 1:1 superresonance. All the Jovian planets,
particularly Jupiter, play a role in the creation of the superresonance.
Pluto
8
To understand the nature of the libration, imagine a polar point of view, looking down on the ecliptic from a distant
vantage point where the planets orbit counterclockwise. After passing the ascending node, Pluto is interior to
Neptune's orbit and moving faster, approaching Neptune from behind. The strong gravitational pull between the two
causes angular momentum to be transferred to Pluto, at Neptune's expense. This moves Pluto into a slightly larger
orbit, where it travels slightly slower, according to Kepler's third law. As its orbit changes, this has the gradual effect
of changing the perihelion and longitude of Pluto's orbit (and, to a lesser degree, of Neptune). After many such
repetitions, Pluto is sufficiently slowed, and Neptune sufficiently speeded up, that Neptune begins to catch up with
Pluto at the opposite side of its orbit (near the opposing node to where we began). The process is then reversed, and
Pluto loses angular momentum to Neptune, until Pluto is sufficiently speeded up that it begins to catch Neptune
again at the original node. The whole process takes about 20,000 years to complete.
Rotation
Pluto's rotation period, its day, is equal to 6.39 Earth days. Like Uranus, Pluto rotates on its "side" on its orbital
plane, with an axial tilt of 120, and so its seasonal variation is extreme; at its solstices, one-fourth of its surface is in
continuous daylight, whereas another fourth is in continuous darkness.
Physical characteristics
Map of Pluto's surface by NASA, ESA and Marc W. Buie
Pluto's distance from Earth makes in-depth
investigation difficult. Many details about
Pluto will remain unknown until 2015, when
the New Horizons spacecraft is expected to
arrive there.
Appearance and surface
Pluto's visual apparent magnitude averages
15.1, brightening to 13.65 at perihelion. To
see it, a telescope is required; around 30cm
(12in) aperture being desirable. It looks
star-like and without a visible disk even in
large telescopes, because its angular
diameter is only 0.11".
The earliest maps of Pluto, made in the late
1980s, were brightness maps created from
close observations of eclipses by its largest
moon, Charon. Observations were made of
the change in the total average brightness of
the PlutoCharon system during the
eclipses. For example, eclipsing a bright
spot on Pluto makes a bigger total
brightness change than eclipsing a dark spot. Computer processing of many such observations can be used to create a
brightness map. This method can also track changes in brightness over time.
Pluto
9
Hubble map of Pluto's surface, showing great
variations in color and albedo
Three views of Pluto from different orientations
Current maps have been produced from images from the Hubble Space
Telescope (HST), which offers the highest resolution currently
available, and show considerably more detail, resolving variations
several hundred kilometres across, including polar regions and large
bright spots. The maps are produced by complex computer processing,
which find the best-fit projected maps for the few pixels of the Hubble
images. The two cameras on the HST used for these maps are no
longer in service, so these will likely remain the most detailed maps of
Pluto until the 2015 flyby of New Horizons.
These maps, together with Pluto's lightcurve and the periodic
variations in its infrared spectra, reveal that Pluto's surface is
remarkably varied, with large changes in both brightness and color.
Pluto is one of the most contrastive bodies in the Solar System, with as
much contrast as Saturn's moon Iapetus. The color varies between
charcoal black, dark orange and white: Buie et al. term it "significantly
less red than Mars and much more similar to the hues seen on Io with a
slightly more orange cast".
Pluto's surface has changed between 1994 and 20023: the northern polar region has brightened and the southern
hemisphere darkened. Pluto's overall redness has also increased substantially between 2000 and 2002. These rapid
changes are probably related to seasonal condensation and sublimation of portions of Pluto's atmosphere, amplified
by Pluto's extreme axial tilt and high orbital eccentricity.
Spectroscopic analysis of Pluto's surface reveals it to be composed of more than 98 percent nitrogen ice, with traces
of methane and carbon monoxide. The face of Pluto oriented toward Charon contains more methane ice, whereas the
opposite face contains more nitrogen and carbon monoxide ice.
Structure
Theoretical structure of Pluto (2006)
1. Frozen nitrogen
2. Water ice
3. Rock
Observations by the Hubble Space Telescope place Pluto's density at
between 1.8 and 2.1g/cm
3
, suggesting its internal composition consists
of roughly 5070 percent rock and 3050 percent ice by mass.
Because the decay of radioactive elements would eventually heat the
ices enough for the rock to separate from them, scientists expect that
Pluto's internal structure is differentiated, with the rocky material
having settled into a dense core surrounded by a mantle of ice. The
diameter of the core is hypothesized to be approximately 1700km,
70% of Pluto's diameter. It is possible that such heating continues
today, creating a subsurface ocean layer of liquid water some 100 to
180 km thick at the coremantle boundary. The DLR Institute of
Planetary Research calculated that Pluto's density-to-radius ratio lies
in a transition zone, along with Neptune's moon Triton, between icy
satellites like the mid-sized moons of Uranus and Saturn, and rocky
satellites such as Jupiter's Io.
Pluto
10
Mass and size
Pluto's volume is about 0.6% that of
Earth
Pluto's mass is 1.3110
22
kg, less than 0.24 percent that of Earth, and its
diameter is 230620km, or roughly 66% that of the Moon. Its surface area
(1.66510
7
km
2
) is about 10% smaller than that of South America. Pluto's
atmosphere complicates determining its true solid size within a certain margin.
Pluto's albedo varies from 0.490.66.
The discovery of Pluto's satellite Charon in 1978 enabled a determination of the
mass of the PlutoCharon system by application of Newton's formulation of
Kepler's third law. Once Charon's gravitational effect was measured, Pluto's true
mass could be determined. Observations of Pluto in occultation with Charon
allowed scientists to establish Pluto's diameter more accurately, whereas the
invention of adaptive optics allowed them to determine its shape more
accurately.
Selected size estimates for Pluto
Year Radius (diameter) Notes
1993 1195 (2390)km Millis, et al. (If no haze)
1993 1180 (2360)km Millis, et al. (surface & haze)
1994 1164 (2328)km Young & Binzel
2006 1153 (2306)km Buie, et al.
2007 1161 (2322)km Young, Young, & Buie
2011 1180 (2360)km Zalucha, et al.
2014 1184 (2368) km Lellouch, et al.
Among the objects of the Solar System, Pluto is much less massive than the terrestrial planets, and at less than 0.2
lunar masses, it is also less massive than seven moons: Ganymede, Titan, Callisto, Io, the Moon, Europa and Triton.
Pluto is more than twice the diameter and a dozen times the mass of the dwarf planet Ceres, the largest object in the
asteroid belt. It is less massive than the dwarf planet Eris, a trans-Neptunian object discovered in 2005. Given the
error bars in the different size estimates, it is currently unknown whether Eris or Pluto has the larger diameter. Both
Pluto and Eris are estimated to have solid-body diameters of about 2330km.
Determinations of Pluto's size are complicated by its atmosphere, and possible hydrocarbon haze. In March, 2014,
Lellouch, de Bergh et al. published findings regarding methane mixing ratios in Pluto's atmosphere consistent with a
Plutonian diameter greater than 2360km, with a "best guess" of 2368km, which would make it slightly larger than
Eris.
Pluto
11
Atmosphere
CRIRES model-based computer-generated
impression of the Plutonian surface, with
atmospheric haze, and Charon and the Sun in the
sky.
Pluto's atmosphere consists of a thin envelope of nitrogen, methane,
and carbon monoxide gases, which are derived from the ices of these
substances on its surface. Its surface pressure ranges from 6.5 to 24
bar. Pluto's elongated orbit is predicted to have a major effect on its
atmosphere: as Pluto moves away from the Sun, its atmosphere should
gradually freeze out, and fall to the ground. When Pluto is closer to the
Sun, the temperature of Pluto's solid surface increases, causing the ices
to sublimate into gas. This creates an anti-greenhouse effect; much as
sweat cools the body as it evaporates from the surface of the skin, this
sublimation cools the surface of Pluto. Scientists using the
Submillimeter Array have recently discovered that Pluto's temperature
is about 43K (230C), 10 K colder than would otherwise be expected.
The presence of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, in Pluto's atmosphere creates a temperature inversion, with
average temperatures 36K warmer 10km above the surface. The lower atmosphere contains a higher concentration
of methane than its upper atmosphere.
Evidence of Pluto's atmosphere was first suggested by Noah Brosch and Haim Mendelson of the Wise Observatory
in Israel in 1985, and then definitively detected by the Kuiper Airborne Observatory in 1988, from observations of
occultations of stars by Pluto. When an object with no atmosphere moves in front of a star, the star abruptly
disappears; in the case of Pluto, the star dimmed out gradually. From the rate of dimming, the atmospheric pressure
was determined to be 0.15pascal, roughly 1/700,000 that of Earth.
In 2002, another occultation of a star by Pluto was observed and analysed by teams led by Bruno Sicardy of the Paris
Observatory, James L. Elliot of MIT, and Jay Pasachoff of Williams College. Surprisingly, the atmospheric pressure
was estimated to be 0.3pascal, even though Pluto was farther from the Sun than in 1988 and thus should have been
colder and had a more rarefied atmosphere. One explanation for the discrepancy is that in 1987 the south pole of
Pluto came out of shadow for the first time in 120 years, causing extra nitrogen to sublimate from the polar cap. It
will take decades for the excess nitrogen to condense out of the atmosphere as it freezes onto the north pole's now
continuously dark ice cap. Spikes in the data from the same study revealed what may be the first evidence of wind in
Pluto's atmosphere. Another stellar occultation was observed by the MIT-Williams College team of James L. Elliot,
Jay Pasachoff, and a Southwest Research Institute team led by Leslie A. Young on June 12, 2006 from sites in
Australia.
In October 2006, Dale Cruikshank of NASA/Ames Research Center (a New Horizons co-investigator) and his
colleagues announced the spectroscopic discovery of ethane on Pluto's surface. This ethane is produced from the
photolysis or radiolysis (i.e. the chemical conversion driven by sunlight and charged particles) of frozen methane on
Pluto's surface and suspended in its atmosphere.
Satellites
Main article: Moons of Pluto
Pluto has five known natural satellites: Charon, first identified in 1978 by astronomer James Christy; Nix and Hydra,
both discovered in 2005, Kerberos, identified by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2011, and Styx, discovered in 2012.
The Plutonian moons are unusually close to Pluto, compared to other observed systems. Moons could potentially
orbit Pluto at up to 53% (or 69%, if retrograde) of the Hill radius, the stable gravitational zone of Pluto's influence.
For example, Psamathe orbits Neptune at 40% of the Hill radius. In the case of Pluto, only the inner 3% of the zone
is known to be occupied by satellites. In the discoverers' terms, the Plutonian system appears to be "highly compact
and largely empty", although others have pointed out the possibility of additional objects, including a small ring
Pluto
12
system.
Charon
Main article: Charon (moon)
An oblique view of the PlutoCharon system showing that Pluto orbits a point
outside itself. Pluto's orbit is shown in red and Charon's orbit is shown in green.
The surface of Charon
The PlutoCharon system is noteworthy for
being one of the Solar System's few binary
systems, defined as those whose barycenter
lies above the primary's surface (617
Patroclus is a smaller example, the Sun and
Jupiter the only larger one). This and the
large size of Charon relative to Pluto has led
some astronomers to call it a dwarf double
planet. The system is also unusual among
planetary systems in that each is tidally
locked to the other: Charon always presents
the same face to Pluto, and Pluto always
presents the same face to Charon: from any
position on either body, the other is always
at the same position in the sky, or always
obscured. This also means that the rotation
period of each is equal to the time it takes
the entire system to rotate around its
common center of gravity. Just as Pluto
revolves on its side relative to the orbital
plane, so the PlutoCharon system does
also. In 2007, observations by the Gemini
Observatory of patches of ammonia
hydrates and water crystals on the surface of
Charon suggested the presence of active
cryo-geysers.
Pluto
13
Small moons
The Pluto system: Pluto, Charon, Nix, Hydra,
Kerberos, and Styx, taken by the Hubble Space
Telescope in July 2012
Two additional moons were imaged by astronomers working with the
Hubble Space Telescope on May 15, 2005, and received provisional
designations of S/2005P1 and S/2005P2. The International
Astronomical Union officially named Pluto's newest moons Nix (or
PlutoII, the inner of the two moons, formerly P2) and Hydra
(PlutoIII, the outer moon, formerly P1), on June 21, 2006.
These small moons orbit Pluto at approximately two and three times
the distance of Charon: Nix at 48,700 kilometres and Hydra at 64,800
kilometres from the barycenter of the system. They have nearly
circular prograde orbits in the same orbital plane as Charon.
Observations of Nix and Hydra to determine individual characteristics
are ongoing. Hydra is sometimes brighter than Nix, suggesting either
that it is larger or that different parts of its surface may vary in
brightness. Their sizes are estimated from albedos. If their albedo is
similar to that of Charon (0.35), then their diameters are 46 kilometres
for Nix and 61 kilometres for Hydra. Upper limits on their diameters can be estimated by using the albedo of the
darkest Kuiper-belt objects (0.04); these bounds are 13711km and 16710km, respectively. At the larger end of
this range, the inferred masses are less than 0.3% that of Charon, or 0.03% that of Pluto.
The discovery of Nix and Hydra suggests that Pluto may possess a variable ring system. Small-body impacts can
create debris that can form into planetary rings. Data from a deep-optical survey by the Advanced Camera for
Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope suggest that no ring system is present. If such a system exists, it is either
tenuous like the rings of Jupiter or is tightly confined to less than 1,000km in width. Similar conclusions have been
made from occultation studies.
A fourth moon, Kerberos, was announced on July 20, 2011. It was detected using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope
during a survey searching for rings around Pluto. It has an estimated diameter of 13 to 34km and is located between
the orbits of Nix and Hydra. Kerberos was first seen in a photo taken with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 on June
28. It was confirmed in subsequent Hubble pictures taken on July 3 and July 18.
A fifth moon, Styx, was announced on July 7, 2012 while looking for potential hazards for New Horizons.
[11]
Styx is
believed to have a diameter of between 10 and 25km and to orbit Pluto at a distance between Charon and Nix.
Near resonances
Styx, Nix, Kerberos and Hydra are fairly close to 3:1, 4:1, 5:1 and 6:1 mean-motion orbital resonances with Charon,
respectively (the ratios approach integral commensurabilities more closely going outward from Pluto). Determining
how near any of these orbital period ratios actually is to a true resonance requires accurate knowledge of the
satellites' precessions.
Pluto
14
Pluto and its satellites, with the Moon comparison
Name
(Pronunciation)
Discovery
Year
Diameter
(km)
Mass
(kg)
Orbital radius
(km)
(barycentric)
Orbital period
(d)
Period
ratio
Magnitude
(mag)
Pluto /pluto/ 1930 2,306
(66%Moon)
1.30510
22
(18%Moon)
2,035 6.3872
(25%Moon)
1.000 15.1
Charon /Help:IPA for
English#Keyrn/,
/krn/
1978 1,205
(35%Moon)
1.5210
21
(2%Moon)
17,536
(5%Moon)
6.3872
(25%Moon)
1.000 16.8
Styx /stks/ 2012 1025 ? ~42,000 2,000 20.2 0.1 3.16 27
Nix /nks/ 2005 91
410
17 48,708 24.856 3.892 23.7
Kerberos /krbrs/ 2011 1334 ? ~59,000 32.1 5.03 26
Hydra /hadr/ 2005 114
810
17 64,749 38.206 5.982 23.3
Mass of Nix and Hydra assumes icy/porous density of 1.0 g/cm
3
Quasi-satellite
At least one minor body is trapped in the 1:1 commensurability with Pluto, (15810) 1994 JR1, specifically in the
quasi-satellite dynamical state. The object has been a quasi-satellite of Pluto for about 100,000 years and it will
remain in that dynamical state for perhaps another 250,000 years. Its quasi-satellite behavior is recurrent with a
periodicity of 2 million years. There may be additional Pluto co-orbitals.
Origins
Main articles: Kuiper belt and Nice model
Plot of known Kuiper belt objects, set against the four gas giants.
Pluto's origin and identity had long puzzled
astronomers. One early hypothesis was that
Pluto was an escaped moon of Neptune,
knocked out of orbit by its largest current
moon, Triton. This notion has been heavily
criticized because Pluto never comes near
Neptune in its orbit.
Pluto's true place in the Solar System began
to reveal itself only in 1992, when
astronomers began to find small icy objects
beyond Neptune that were similar to Pluto
not only in orbit but also in size and
composition. This trans-Neptunian
population is believed to be the source of
many short-period comets. Astronomers
now believe Pluto to be the largest member
of the Kuiper belt, a somewhat stable ring of
objects located between 30 and 50 AU from
Pluto
15
the Sun. As of 2011, surveys of the Kuiper belt to magnitude 21 were nearly complete and any remaining Pluto-sized
objects are expected to be beyond 100AU from the Sun. Like other Kuiper-belt objects (KBOs), Pluto shares
features with comets; for example, the solar wind is gradually blowing Pluto's surface into space, in the manner of a
comet. If Pluto were placed as near to the Sun as Earth, it would develop a tail, as comets do.
Though Pluto is the largest of the Kuiper belt objects discovered, Neptune's moon Triton, which is slightly larger
than Pluto, is similar to it both geologically and atmospherically, and is believed to be a captured Kuiper belt object.
Eris (see below) is about the same size as Pluto (though more massive) but is not strictly considered a member of the
Kuiper belt population. Rather, it is considered a member of a linked population called the scattered disc.
A large number of Kuiper belt objects, like Pluto, possess a 2:3 orbital resonance with Neptune. KBOs with this
orbital resonance are called "plutinos", after Pluto.
Like other members of the Kuiper belt, Pluto is thought to be a residual planetesimal; a component of the original
protoplanetary disc around the Sun that failed to fully coalesce into a full-fledged planet. Most astronomers agree
that Pluto owes its current position to a sudden migration undergone by Neptune early in the Solar System's
formation. As Neptune migrated outward, it approached the objects in the proto-Kuiper belt, setting one in orbit
around itself (Triton), locking others into resonances, and knocking others into chaotic orbits. The objects in the
scattered disc, a dynamically unstable region overlapping the Kuiper belt, are believed to have been placed in their
current positions by interactions with Neptune's migrating resonances. A computer model created in 2004 by
Alessandro Morbidelli of the Observatoire de la Cte d'Azur in Nice suggested that the migration of Neptune into the
Kuiper belt may have been triggered by the formation of a 1:2 resonance between Jupiter and Saturn, which created a
gravitational push that propelled both Uranus and Neptune into higher orbits and caused them to switch places,
ultimately doubling Neptune's distance from the Sun. The resultant expulsion of objects from the proto-Kuiper belt
could also explain the Late Heavy Bombardment 600million years after the Solar System's formation and the origin
of the Jupiter trojans. It is possible that Pluto had a near-circular orbit about 33 AU from the Sun before Neptune's
migration perturbed it into a resonant capture. The Nice model requires that there were about a thousand Pluto-sized
bodies in the original planetesimal disk; these may have included the early Triton and Eris.
Exploration
Main article: New Horizons
New Horizons, launched on January
19, 2006
Pluto presents significant challenges for spacecraft because of its small mass and
great distance from Earth. Voyager 1 could have visited Pluto, but controllers
opted instead for a close flyby of Saturn's moon Titan, resulting in a trajectory
incompatible with a Pluto flyby. Voyager 2 never had a plausible trajectory for
reaching Pluto. No serious attempt to explore Pluto by spacecraft occurred until
the last decade of the 20th century. In August 1992, JPL scientist Robert Staehle
telephoned Pluto's discoverer, Clyde Tombaugh, requesting permission to visit
his planet. "I told him he was welcome to it," Tombaugh later remembered,
"though he's got to go one long, cold trip." Despite this early momentum, in
2000, NASA cancelled the Pluto Kuiper Express mission, citing increasing costs
and launch vehicle delays.
Pluto
16
First Pluto sighting from New Horizons
After an intense political battle, a revised mission to Pluto, dubbed
New Horizons, was granted funding from the US government in 2003.
New Horizons was launched successfully on January 19, 2006. The
mission leader, S. Alan Stern, confirmed that some of the ashes of
Clyde Tombaugh, who died in 1997, had been placed aboard the
spacecraft.
In early 2007 the craft made use of a gravity assist from Jupiter. Its
closest approach to Pluto will be on July 14, 2015; scientific
observations of Pluto will begin 5 months before closest approach and
will continue for at least a month after the encounter. New Horizons
captured its first (distant) images of Pluto in late September 2006,
during a test of the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI). The
images, taken from a distance of approximately 4.2 billion kilometres,
confirm the spacecraft's ability to track distant targets, critical for maneuvering toward Pluto and other Kuiper Belt
objects.
New Horizons will use a remote sensing package that includes imaging instruments and a radio science investigation
tool, as well as spectroscopic and other experiments, to characterise the global geology and morphology of Pluto and
its moon Charon, map their surface composition and analyse Pluto's neutral atmosphere and its escape rate. New
Horizons will also photograph the surfaces of Pluto and Charon.
Pluto's small moons, discovered shortly before or after the probes's launch, may present it with unforeseen
challenges. Debris from collisions between Kuiper belt objects and the smaller moons, with their relatively low
escape velocities, may produce a tenuous dusty ring. Were New Horizons to fly through such a ring system, there
would be an increased potential for micrometeoroid damage that could disable the probe.
Concepts
A Pluto orbiter/lander/sample return mission was proposed in 2003. The plan included a twelve-year trip from Earth
to Pluto, mapping from orbit, multiple landings, a warm water probe, and possible in situ propellant production for
another twelve-year trip back to Earth with samples. Power and propulsion would come from the bimodal MITEE
nuclear reactor system.
Classification
Main article: Definition of planet
Pluto
17
TNO imagemap}})
After Pluto's place within the Kuiper belt was
determined, its official status as a planet became
controversial, with many questioning whether Pluto
should be considered together with or separately from
its surrounding population.
Museum and planetarium directors occasionally
created controversy by omitting Pluto from planetary
models of the Solar System. The Hayden Planetarium
reopened after renovation in 2000 with a model of only
eight planets. The controversy made headlines at the
time.
In 2002, the KBO 50000 Quaoar was discovered, with
a diameter then thought to be roughly 1280 kilometres,
about half that of Pluto. In 2004, the discoverers of 90377 Sedna placed an upper limit of 1800km on its diameter,
nearer to Pluto's diameter of 2320km, although Sedna's diameter was revised downward to less than 1600km by
2007. Just as Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta eventually lost their planet status after the discovery of many other
asteroids, so, it was argued, Pluto should be reclassified as one of the Kuiper belt objects.
On July 29, 2005, the discovery of a new trans-Neptunian object was announced. Named Eris, it is now known to be
approximately the same size as Pluto. This was the largest object discovered in the Solar System since Triton in
1846. Its discoverers and the press initially called it the tenth planet, although there was no official consensus at the
time on whether to call it a planet. Others in the astronomical community considered the discovery the strongest
argument for reclassifying Pluto as a minor planet.
2006: IAU classification
Main article: IAU definition of planet
The debate came to a head in 2006 with an IAU resolution that created an official definition for the term "planet".
According to this resolution, there are three main conditions for an object to be considered a 'planet':
1. The object must be in orbit around the Sun.
2. The object must be massive enough to be a sphere by its own gravitational force. More specifically, its own
gravity should pull it into a shape of hydrostatic equilibrium.
3. It must have cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.
Pluto fails to meet the third condition, because its mass is only 0.07 times that of the mass of the other objects in its
orbit (Earth's mass, by contrast, is 1.7 million times the remaining mass in its own orbit). The IAU further resolved
that Pluto be classified in the simultaneously created dwarf planet category, and that it act as the prototype for the
plutoid category of trans-Neptunian objects, in which it would be separately, but concurrently, classified.
On September 13, 2006, the IAU included Pluto, Eris, and the Eridian moon Dysnomia in their Minor Planet
Catalogue, giving them the official minor planet designations "(134340) Pluto", "(136199) Eris", and "(136199) Eris
I Dysnomia". If Pluto had been given a minor planet name upon its discovery, the number would have been about
1,164 rather than 134,340.
There has been some resistance within the astronomical community toward the reclassification. S. Alan Stern,
principal investigator with NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto, publicly derided the IAU resolution, stating that
"the definition stinks, for technical reasons". Stern's contention was that by the terms of the new definition Earth,
Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune, all of which share their orbits with asteroids, would be excluded. His other claim was
that because less than five percent of astronomers voted for it, the decision was not representative of the entire
astronomical community. Marc W. Buie, then at Lowell Observatory, voiced his opinion on the new definition on his
Pluto
18
website and petitioned against the definition. Others have supported the IAU. Mike Brown, the astronomer who
discovered Eris, said "through this whole crazy circus-like procedure, somehow the right answer was stumbled on.
It's been a long time coming. Science is self-correcting eventually, even when strong emotions are involved."
Researchers on both sides of the debate gathered on August 1416, 2008, at The Johns Hopkins University Applied
Physics Laboratory for a conference that included back-to-back talks on the current IAU definition of a planet.
Entitled "The Great Planet Debate", the conference published a post-conference press release indicating that
scientists could not come to a consensus about the definition of planet. Just before the conference, on June 11, 2008,
the IAU announced in a press release that the term "plutoid" would henceforth be used to describe Pluto and other
objects similar to Pluto which have an orbital semimajor axis greater than that of Neptune and enough mass to be of
near-spherical shape.
Reaction
A promotional event with a staged Pluto
"protest". Members playing protesters of the
reclassification of Pluto on the left, with those
playing counter-protesters on the right
Reception to the IAU decision was mixed. Although many accepted
the reclassification, some sought to overturn the decision with online
petitions urging the IAU to consider reinstatement. A resolution
introduced by some members of the California State Assembly
light-heartedly denounced the IAU for "scientific heresy", among other
crimes. The U.S. state of New Mexico's House of Representatives
passed a resolution in honor of Tombaugh, a longtime resident of that
state, which declared that Pluto will always be considered a planet
while in New Mexican skies and that March 13, 2007, was Pluto Planet
Day. The Illinois State Senate passed a similar resolution in 2009, on
the basis that Clyde Tombaugh, the discoverer of Pluto, was born in
Illinois. The resolution asserted that Pluto was "unfairly downgraded to a 'dwarf' planet" by the IAU.
Some members of the public have also rejected the change, citing the disagreement within the scientific community
on the issue, or for sentimental reasons, maintaining that they have always known Pluto as a planet and will continue
to do so regardless of the IAU decision.
In 2006 in its 17th annual words of the year vote, the American Dialect Society voted plutoed as the word of the
year. To "pluto" is to "demote or devalue someone or something".
Notes
[1] Drawn from Hubble images, synthesized true color<ref name="HST-SynColours" group="lower-alpha">
[2] Orbital elements refer to the barycenter of the Pluto system, and are the instantaneous osculating values at the precise J2000 epoch.
Barycenter quantities are given because, in contrast to the planetary center, they do not experience appreciable changes on a day-to-day basis
from the motion of the moons. The orbital period of Pluto is listed as 248 years because most references use the more stable barycenter of the
Solar System (Sun+Jupiter) to list the orbital period of the Pluto-Charon system. A J2000 heliocentric solution would give a value of 246
years.
[3] Gorwyn, Adam; Alan Stern: A Chihuahua is still a dog, and Pluto is still a planet (http:/ / earthsky. org/ space/
alan-stern-a-chihuahua-is-still-a-dog-and-pluto-is-still-a-planet-2), EarthSky interview, 2010 February 18
[4] [4] Croswell 1997, p.43.
[5] [5] Croswell 1997, p.50.
[6] [6] Croswell 1997, p.52.
[7] Croswell 1997, pp.5455.
[8] UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Gregory Clark (2014), " What Were the British Earnings and Prices Then? (New
Series) (http:/ / www.measuringworth.org/ ukearncpi/ )" MeasuringWorth.
[9] Though if a language does not support something like the Greek pronunciation, these can be rather divergent, such as Somali Buluuto and
Navaho Totoo.
[10] [10] Croswell 1997, p.57.
[11] Hubble Discovers a Fifth Moon Orbiting Pluto (http:/ / www. nasa. gov/ mission_pages/ hubble/ science/ new-pluto-moon. html)
Pluto
19
References
Bibliography
Croswell, Ken (1997). Planet Quest: The Epic Discovery of Alien Solar Systems. New York, NY: The Free Press.
ISBN978-0-684-83252-4.
Brown, Michael E. (2010). How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming. ISBN0-385-53108-7.
Stern, S. Alan; Mitton, Jacqueline (2005). "Pluto and Charon: Ice Worlds on the Ragged Edge of the Solar
System" (http:/ / www. worldcat. org/ search?q=isbn:3527405569). Weinheim:Wiley-VCH.
ISBN3-527-40556-9. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
External links
Pluto Profile (http:/ / solarsystem. nasa. gov/ planets/ profile. cfm?Object=Pluto) at NASA's Solar System
Exploration site (http:/ / solarsystem. nasa. gov/ )
NASA Pluto factsheet (http:/ / nssdc. gsfc. nasa. gov/ planetary/ factsheet/ plutofact. html)
Website of the observatory that discovered Pluto (http:/ / www. lowell. edu/ )
Earth telescope image of Pluto system (http:/ / www. astrobio. net/ pressrelease/ 5055/
sharpest-ever-views-of-pluto-and-charon)
Keck infrared with AO of Pluto system (http:/ / www. ifa. hawaii. edu/ info/ press-releases/ PlutoPictures/
Pluto-Tholen-10-07. html)
Gray, Meghan (2009). "Pluto" (http:/ / www. sixtysymbols. com/ videos/ pluto. htm). Sixty Symbols. Brady Haran
for the University of Nottingham.
Article Sources and Contributors
20
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88wolfmaster, A Train, A bit iffy, ACSE, ADouBTor, ANNAfoxlover, Aaron Schulz, Ab humayun, AbJ32, Aborigine, Absconded Northerner, Abyssoft, Academic Challenger, Acalamari, Ace
Class Shadow, Achtung5, Acom, Adam1213, Adashiel, Addshore, Adistinguishedhistorian, Aelffin, Aeon1006, Afogarty, Ageekgal, Ahkilinc, Ahodes1, Ahoerstemeier, Aitias, Ajsteffl, Aksi
great, Al1as, Alan Peakall, Alandbrown, Albertod4, Albireo3000, Ale jrb, Alethiareg, Alex mayorga, Alex.muller, Alexf, AlexiusHoratius, Alexkraegen, Ali mcmc, AliveFreeHappy, All Is One,
AllHailZeppelin, Alphabetagamma, Alsandro, AltiusBimm, Alumnum, Alvinying, AlwaysUnite, Alxeedo, Amakuru, Amatulic, AmericanLemming, Amorymeltzer, Amos Han, Anaxial,
Andattaca2010, Andonic, Andrew Gray, Andrew Norman, Andromeda321, Andronimo, Androstachys, Anetode, Angela, Anika7, Animum, Anna Frodesiak, Anomalocaris, AnonMoos,
Anonymous Dissident, Anonymous editor, Ant133, Antandrus, Anthony, Antony-22, Apc123, Aprogressivist, Apyule, Aquirata, Aquzenn, Arce, Arctic.gnome, Are You The Cow Of Pain?,
Areeshie, ArglebargleIV, Arjun01, Armaced, ArmadilloFromHell, ArnoldReinhold, Arrenlex, Arsia Mons, Art LaPella, ArthurWeasley, Artman40, Arvind Vyas, Asams10, Asbestos, Asher196,
Ashmin2006, Ashmoo, AspaasBekkelund, Asteron, Astrazoic, AstroHurricane001, Astrobhadauria, Astronouth7303, Atakdoug, Atanasio, Attys, Aussiepete, AuthorizeditorA, AvicAWB, Avsa,
Awolf002, Axeman89, Axl, Az1568, Aza, AzaToth, Azalea pomp, BIL, Babylone, Bacteria, Bad Astronomer, Badgernet, Bake hi, Banedon, Bangabalunga, Bardnet, Barneca, Bart l,
BaseballSport, Baseballdude12321, Basilbrushleo, Bballandrea38, Beao, Bear475, Before My Ken, Beland, Belovedfreak, Ben dude56, Ben-Zin, Benbest, Bender235, Benhocking, Benwildeboer,
Bernard the Varanid, Betacommand, BetoCG, Bevo74, Bevo873, Bhadani, BhaiSaab, Bigboy6, Bigdan201, Bigsean0300, Bill shannon 2001, BillCook, Billiamkarr, Bkell, Bkessler23,
Blaccjesus, Blehfu, Bletch, Bleubeatle, Blobbie244, Blowski, Bluap, BlueMoonlet, BlytheG, Bmdavll, Bob Man Lot, Bob rulz, Bobathon71, Bobblehead, Bobo192, Bobrayner, Bomazi,
Bongwarrior, Boojum, Bookandcoffee, Boombasha, Bornhj, Bosola, Boxjam, Br'er Rabbit, Bradv, Braincricket, Brainster 101, Brandmeister, Brandon 0104, Bravo-Alpha, Brian0918, Brianrusso,
Brighterorange, Brion VIBBER, Brisvegas, Bro1990, BrokenSegue, Broocson, Brusselsshrek, Bryan Derksen, BuShWaCkErS, Bubba73, Bubbha, BudMann9, Bugtrio, Bulldogsully, Burmiester,
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File:Pluto symbol.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Pluto_symbol.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Lexicon
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File:ClydeTombaugh2.gif Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:ClydeTombaugh2.gif License: Public Domain Contributors: Ds02006, Jan.Kamenicek, Lankiveil, LobStoR, 1
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File:Pluto Orbit.gif Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Pluto_Orbit.gif License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: User:Lookang
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File:TheKuiperBelt Orbits Pluto Neptune2.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:TheKuiperBelt_Orbits_Pluto_Neptune2.svg License: Creative Commons
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File:Pluto moon P5 discovery with moons' orbits.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Pluto_moon_P5_discovery_with_moons'_orbits.jpg License: Public Domain
Contributors: Fotaun, Morio, WolfmanSF, 1 anonymous edits
File:Outersolarsystem objectpositions labels comp.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Outersolarsystem_objectpositions_labels_comp.png License: Free Art License
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