Hey everyone! Imagine what it would be like to stand on Pluto at noon. It’s pretty dark because Pluto is so far from the Sun. It takes over 5 hours for sunlight to reach Pluto! A spacecraft called New Horizons took almost ten years to get there, but it was worth the wait. Since its closest approach on July 14, 2015, New Horizons has sent back amazing pictures and data, changing everything we thought we knew about Pluto.
New Horizons launched on January 19, 2006, on an Atlas V rocket. It was the fastest spacecraft launch ever, reaching speeds of over 16 kilometers per second! A year later, it flew by Jupiter, using its gravity to slingshot toward Pluto in the Kuiper Belt. Before New Horizons, we didn’t know much about Pluto. Now, we see it as a mysterious world full of surprises.
New Horizons had to hit a tiny target in space to gather data about Pluto. It arrived within 100 seconds of its planned time after nearly ten years of travel. So, what did we learn?
Pluto is fascinating! Its most famous feature is a heart-shaped region called Tombaugh Regio, named after Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto in 1930. This area has flowing nitrogen glaciers and a frozen plain made of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane ice. There are also mountains made of water ice, about three and a half kilometers high. These features are young, meaning Pluto is geologically active, which surprised scientists.
Pluto’s name comes from the Greek god of the underworld, not the Disney character. That’s why features on Pluto have names like Balrog Macula and Cthulhu Regio. On its moon Charon, scientists got creative with names too. Pluto is now known as the second “red planet” in our solar system, thanks to compounds called tholins that give it a reddish color.
Charon, Pluto’s largest moon, is so big it almost forms a double planet system with Pluto. It has a dark area called Mordor, which might be a huge crater. Charon also has a mysterious “mountain in a moat.” New Horizons also gave us our first close-up views of Pluto’s tiny moons, Nix and Hydra, which look like potatoes!
New Horizons confirmed that Pluto is the biggest dwarf planet, slightly larger than Eris. After the flyby, NASA’s chief said we’ve visited every planet in our solar system. While that’s not entirely true, it shows how much we’ve explored. We’ve visited 10 planet-like objects and several moons.
There’s still so much to learn about our cosmic neighborhood. What about other dwarf planets like Eris, Haumea, and Makemake? Or moons like Europa and Titan? New Horizons is now exploring the Kuiper Belt, sending back data as long as it has power.
Where will we go next? Stay curious and keep exploring!
If you want to find out when it’s “Pluto time” where you live, check out NASA’s tool and other cool New Horizons science. Don’t forget to subscribe for more exciting space adventures!
Gather materials like clay, foam balls, or paper mache to create a model of Pluto and its moons. Pay special attention to features like Tombaugh Regio and Charon’s dark area, Mordor. This hands-on activity will help you visualize the scale and unique characteristics of Pluto and its moons.
Imagine you are a scientist planning the next mission to a dwarf planet or moon. Write a short proposal detailing your mission’s objectives, the spacecraft’s design, and the scientific instruments you would use. Present your mission to the class and discuss the potential discoveries.
Create an interactive timeline of New Horizons’ journey from launch to its current mission in the Kuiper Belt. Include key events like the Jupiter flyby and the Pluto flyby. Use digital tools or poster boards to make your timeline engaging and informative.
Use NASA’s “Pluto Time” tool to find out when the lighting conditions in your area match those on Pluto at noon. Record the time and take a photo to compare the lighting. Share your findings with the class and discuss how distance from the Sun affects lighting on planets.
Choose a dwarf planet like Eris, Haumea, or Makemake to research. Create a presentation that includes its discovery, characteristics, and any missions that have explored it. Share your presentation with the class to expand everyone’s knowledge of our solar system’s lesser-known worlds.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the YouTube transcript:
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Hey everyone, don’t adjust your screens! It may look a bit dark, but this is what it looks like at high noon on the dwarf planet Pluto. It takes a little more than 5 hours for light from the Sun to reach Pluto, but it took a spacecraft named New Horizons almost ten years to get there! Since its closest approach on July 14, 2015, it has been sending back incredible images and scientific data, completely redefining our understanding of Pluto and teaching us more than we learned in the 85 years since its discovery. Here’s what it has shown us.
[MUSIC]
New Horizons was launched on January 19, 2006, on top of an Atlas V rocket, generating over 2 million pounds of thrust. It was the first spacecraft launched directly out of orbit, escaping the pull of the Earth and Sun with a launch velocity of over 16 kilometers per second, making it the fastest spacecraft launch ever. The orbital trajectories involved are quite complex, akin to what you might see in a space simulation game.
A year later, it flew by Jupiter and used its gravity as a slingshot to speed toward its encounter in the Kuiper Belt. Before New Horizons, our view of Pluto was quite limited. Now, we see Pluto as a planet full of more questions than answers, a distant world that’s reshaping our understanding of the icy outer reaches of our solar system.
The cameras and sensors on New Horizons were pre-programmed for the flyby, so ensuring they weren’t pointed at empty space meant hitting a target in space just 100 km wide and 150 km tall, arriving within 100 seconds of the planned time after nearly ten years of travel.
So, New Horizons made it to Pluto, engaged its instruments, and collected valuable data about this dwarf planet. So what have we learned so far?
For starters, Pluto looks amazing! Before this year, our best view of Pluto was quite limited, and we didn’t know much about it. Scientists expected some surprises, and Pluto certainly delivered. Pluto’s heart is its most famous feature, named Tombaugh Regio after Clyde Tombaugh, the astronomer who discovered Pluto in 1930.
This heart is fascinating! Its western half, where temperatures average just 38 Kelvin, is bordered by flowing nitrogen glaciers, and in the middle, there’s a frozen plain made up of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane ice. Further down, we find mountains that are about three and a half kilometers high, made of water ice. The sharp mountains and the crater-free surface of Tombaugh Regio indicate that these features are relatively young in geological terms. Many expected Pluto to be a lifeless ball of ice, but it’s geologically active, and scientists are still trying to understand why.
The name Pluto is often associated with the Disney character, so you might expect that when it came time to name features on this dwarf planet, NASA would use whimsical names. However, Pluto’s name actually originates from another name for Hades, the Greek god of the underworld. As a result, we have names like the Balrog Macula, Cthulhu Regio, and Mordor Macula, which are quite different from what you might expect.
When it came to naming features on the moon Charon, the researchers really let their creativity shine. In true-color images, we see that Pluto should join Mars as our solar system’s second “red planet.” That color comes from compounds called “tholins” formed when hydrocarbons in Pluto’s atmosphere are exposed to ultraviolet radiation and then settle on the surface. New Horizons captured a great silhouette showing Pluto’s thin atmosphere, which is mostly nitrogen gas.
Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, has also been full of surprises. Charon is so large that it almost forms a binary planet system with Pluto. The dark area near the moon’s pole, called Mordor, might be a huge crater from an impact large enough to have melted the moon. We don’t know for sure, but that cooling off could explain why its surface is young and smooth like Pluto. It also features an enormous “mountain in a moat,” which raises many questions about its formation.
New Horizons also provided our first close-up views of Pluto’s tiny moons Nix and Hydra, which resemble potatoes. Thanks to New Horizons, here’s what Pluto’s family portrait looks like today. New Horizons confirmed that Pluto retains its title as the “biggest dwarf planet,” being about 48 kilometers wider than Eris, the second-largest dwarf in the solar system.
In a speech after the flyby, NASA chief Charles Bolden stated, “we have now visited every single planet in our solar system.” While that statement overlooks some details, it highlights that we still have much to explore! Counting our missions to Ceres and Pluto, we’ve visited 10 planet-like objects in the solar system, along with a handful of moons.
But what about the other dwarf planets? Eris? Haumea? Makemake? Pallas? What about missions to Europa or Titan? What about trojans, centaurs, comets, and trans-Neptunian objects? There’s so much we don’t know about our cosmic neighborhood, and we’re not done yet.
New Horizons is now far past Pluto, continuing its journey into the Kuiper Belt, and it will keep sending back new scientific data as long as it has power and we’re still listening.
What I want to know is, where are we going next? Stay curious!
Hey everyone, if you want to calculate Pluto time where you live, I’ve put a link to that tool from NASA and a bunch of other fascinating New Horizons science in the description. Make sure to subscribe, and I’ll see you soon!
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Let me know if you need any further modifications!
Pluto – A dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt, once considered the ninth planet of our solar system. – Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union.
Horizons – The line at which the earth’s surface and the sky appear to meet, often used in astronomy to describe the boundary of what can be observed. – As the spacecraft traveled further, new horizons of the solar system were revealed.
Spacecraft – A vehicle or device designed for travel or operation in outer space. – The spacecraft was launched to study the outer planets and their moons.
Solar – Relating to or determined by the sun. – Solar panels on the spacecraft convert sunlight into energy to power its instruments.
System – A group of interacting or interdependent elements forming a complex whole, such as the solar system. – The solar system consists of the sun and all the celestial bodies that orbit it.
Moons – Natural satellites that orbit planets, including those in our solar system. – Jupiter has many moons, with Ganymede being the largest in the solar system.
Dwarf – A term used in astronomy to describe a celestial body that is smaller than a typical planet, like a dwarf planet. – Ceres is another example of a dwarf planet located in the asteroid belt.
Planet – A celestial body moving in an elliptical orbit around a star, like Earth in our solar system. – Mars is the fourth planet from the sun and is known for its red appearance.
Kuiper – Referring to the Kuiper Belt, a region of the solar system beyond Neptune filled with small icy bodies. – The Kuiper Belt is home to many dwarf planets, including Pluto.
Exploration – The action of traveling in or through an unfamiliar area in order to learn about it, often used in the context of space exploration. – Space exploration has led to the discovery of new planets and moons in our solar system.
