Clyde Tombaugh discovered a planet in 1930 – but what to call it? A schoolgirl in England had an idea . . .
For new parents, picking their baby’s name can be complicated. They peruse the family tree, leaf through piles of name books, ask friends and relatives; some even consider the trusty dartboard approach. So imagine how challenging it is to name a planet!
Astronomers faced that challenge in 1930. Clyde Tombaugh, working out of Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, had just discovered a whole world in the dark, cold outer reaches of our solar system. What should it be called?
In Oxford, England, an 11-year-old schoolgirl named Venetia Burney learned of the newly discovered planet from her grandfather over the breakfast table. After a moment’s thought she suggested, “Why not call it Pluto?” Her grandfather took her suggestion to Oxford astronomy professor Herbert Hall Turner, a colleague, who cabled the idea to Lowell Observatory. Lowell liked the suggestion and the rest became history.
Now, 85 years later, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is about to visit the world famously named by young Venetia.
“I can’t wait for New Horizons to reveal Pluto to new generations of young students,” says mission Principal Investigator Alan Stern, of Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado. “I hope they’ll find it as inspiring as Venetia did in 1930.”
Venetia’s naming nomination was apt because Pluto, the Roman god of the underworld, ruled over the cold, dark realm of Hades. Moreover, the first two letters of the name Pluto, P and L, were the initials of Percival Lowell, the founder of Lowell Observatory, who initiated the search that led to Pluto’s discovery.
As the New Horizons spacecraft speeds toward Pluto, new naming opportunities will arise if Pluto’s system of moons grows beyond the five discovered from Earth and Earth orbit, as cameras aboard New Horizons train their sights on the Pluto system.
For new parents, picking their baby’s name can be complicated. They peruse the family tree, leaf through piles of name books, ask friends and relatives; some even consider the trusty dartboard approach. So imagine how challenging it is to name a planet!
Astronomers faced that challenge in 1930. Clyde Tombaugh, working out of Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, had just discovered a whole world in the dark, cold outer reaches of our solar system. What should it be called?
In Oxford, England, an 11-year-old schoolgirl named Venetia Burney learned of the newly discovered planet from her grandfather over the breakfast table. After a moment’s thought she suggested, “Why not call it Pluto?” Her grandfather took her suggestion to Oxford astronomy professor Herbert Hall Turner, a colleague, who cabled the idea to Lowell Observatory. Lowell liked the suggestion and the rest became history.
Now, 85 years later, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is about to visit the world famously named by young Venetia.
“I can’t wait for New Horizons to reveal Pluto to new generations of young students,” says mission Principal Investigator Alan Stern, of Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado. “I hope they’ll find it as inspiring as Venetia did in 1930.”
Venetia’s naming nomination was apt because Pluto, the Roman god of the underworld, ruled over the cold, dark realm of Hades. Moreover, the first two letters of the name Pluto, P and L, were the initials of Percival Lowell, the founder of Lowell Observatory, who initiated the search that led to Pluto’s discovery.
As the New Horizons spacecraft speeds toward Pluto, new naming opportunities will arise if Pluto’s system of moons grows beyond the five discovered from Earth and Earth orbit, as cameras aboard New Horizons train their sights on the Pluto system.
Venetia Burney at age 11, when she suggested the name "Pluto" for the newly discovered ninth planet in 1930.
(Credit: Venetia Burney Phair, via the BBC)
(Credit: Venetia Burney Phair, via the BBC)
New Horizons Begins First Stage of Pluto Encounter
New Horizons was launched in January of 2006 and the little craft will approach Pluto at the end of a nine and a half year journey in July of 2015.
It will pass by planet Pluto and its moons Charon, Nix, Hydra, Kerberos, and Styx.
New Horizons has just started its first stages of its encounter with Pluto. “NASA first mission to distant Pluto will also be humankind’s first close up view of this cold, unexplored world in our solar system,” said Jim Green, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division at the agency’s Headquarters in Washington. “The New Horizons team worked very hard to prepare for this first phase, and they did it flawlessly.”
New Horizons is set to engage in a long-range photo shoot of Pluto later this month (January 25th, 2015). The images will be notable for several reasons. First, they will help us better understand the strange orbit of this planet and its many moons. Second, the images will help scientists navigate the spacecraft as it covers the remaining 135 million miles (220 million kilometers) to Pluto. the photos to come over the next few weeks and months will assist us in making the necessary course corrections so that the rest of the mission is successful and goes as planned.
“We need to refine our knowledge of where Pluto will be when New Horizons flies past it,” said Mark Holdridge, New Horizons encounter mission manager at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. “The flyby timing also has to be exact, because the computer commands that will orient the spacecraft and point the science instruments are based on precisely knowing the time we pass Pluto – which these images will help us determine.”
Update: May 25, 2015:
After more than nine years, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is on the final leg of its 3 billion mile journey to planet Pluto.
New Horizons, which at its core resembles a grand piano in shape and size, was launched on January 19, 2006. It passed by the Jovian system in early 2007, picked up speed from a gravity boost, and now approaches Pluto at 31,000 mph. After traveling nearly 32 astronomical units, or 3 billion miles, the craft will pass just 6,200 miles from the surface of Pluto on July 14, 2015.
As part of its primary science mission, New Horizons will map the global geology and topography of Pluto and its largest moon Charon, determine their surface composition and temperature, measure Pluto’s atmosphere, study Pluto’s smaller moons Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra, and search for further moons and possible rings. From these measurements, scientists will try to determine how Pluto and its moons are related to the major planets of the solar system.
Once it passes Pluto, New Horizons will move deeper into the Kuiper Belt and examine one or two of the billions of icy bodies in this distant region of the solar system.
It will pass by planet Pluto and its moons Charon, Nix, Hydra, Kerberos, and Styx.
New Horizons has just started its first stages of its encounter with Pluto. “NASA first mission to distant Pluto will also be humankind’s first close up view of this cold, unexplored world in our solar system,” said Jim Green, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division at the agency’s Headquarters in Washington. “The New Horizons team worked very hard to prepare for this first phase, and they did it flawlessly.”
New Horizons is set to engage in a long-range photo shoot of Pluto later this month (January 25th, 2015). The images will be notable for several reasons. First, they will help us better understand the strange orbit of this planet and its many moons. Second, the images will help scientists navigate the spacecraft as it covers the remaining 135 million miles (220 million kilometers) to Pluto. the photos to come over the next few weeks and months will assist us in making the necessary course corrections so that the rest of the mission is successful and goes as planned.
“We need to refine our knowledge of where Pluto will be when New Horizons flies past it,” said Mark Holdridge, New Horizons encounter mission manager at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. “The flyby timing also has to be exact, because the computer commands that will orient the spacecraft and point the science instruments are based on precisely knowing the time we pass Pluto – which these images will help us determine.”
Update: May 25, 2015:
After more than nine years, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is on the final leg of its 3 billion mile journey to planet Pluto.
New Horizons, which at its core resembles a grand piano in shape and size, was launched on January 19, 2006. It passed by the Jovian system in early 2007, picked up speed from a gravity boost, and now approaches Pluto at 31,000 mph. After traveling nearly 32 astronomical units, or 3 billion miles, the craft will pass just 6,200 miles from the surface of Pluto on July 14, 2015.
As part of its primary science mission, New Horizons will map the global geology and topography of Pluto and its largest moon Charon, determine their surface composition and temperature, measure Pluto’s atmosphere, study Pluto’s smaller moons Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra, and search for further moons and possible rings. From these measurements, scientists will try to determine how Pluto and its moons are related to the major planets of the solar system.
Once it passes Pluto, New Horizons will move deeper into the Kuiper Belt and examine one or two of the billions of icy bodies in this distant region of the solar system.
Update: April 14 2015
The New Horizons probe has captured its first color image of Pluto.
The picture, just released by the US space agency, shows a reddish world accompanied by its biggest moon, Charon.
New Horizons is set to fly past Pluto on July 14 2015
It will acquire a mass of data that it will then return to Earth very slowly over the course of the next 16 months.
New Horizon's flyby will mean every planet in our solar system has been photographed at least once by a space probe.
However, not since the Voyager 2 satellite passed Neptune in the late 1980s has a new world been revealed up close in the same way as will occur in mid-July.
Today, our best pictures of Pluto come from the Hubble telescope. They are just blobs that make it very hard to discern anything of scientific certainty.
But, starting in May, this will change, as the approaching New Horizons spacecraft starts to return pictures that begin to better in resolution anything Hubble has managed.
New Horizons was roughly the distance from the Sun to Venus - at the time of this photograph. Even at this distance, it is possible to resolve some differences in appearance between Pluto and its moon.
When New Horizons flies by Pluto on July 14, it will deliver color images that show surface features.
"The spacecraft is in perfect health; it's full of fuel; and it's carrying a scientific arsenal of seven instruments that are combined the most powerful suite of instruments ever brought to bear on the first reconnaissance of a new planet,” enthused Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator.
The picture, just released by the US space agency, shows a reddish world accompanied by its biggest moon, Charon.
New Horizons is set to fly past Pluto on July 14 2015
It will acquire a mass of data that it will then return to Earth very slowly over the course of the next 16 months.
New Horizon's flyby will mean every planet in our solar system has been photographed at least once by a space probe.
However, not since the Voyager 2 satellite passed Neptune in the late 1980s has a new world been revealed up close in the same way as will occur in mid-July.
Today, our best pictures of Pluto come from the Hubble telescope. They are just blobs that make it very hard to discern anything of scientific certainty.
But, starting in May, this will change, as the approaching New Horizons spacecraft starts to return pictures that begin to better in resolution anything Hubble has managed.
New Horizons was roughly the distance from the Sun to Venus - at the time of this photograph. Even at this distance, it is possible to resolve some differences in appearance between Pluto and its moon.
When New Horizons flies by Pluto on July 14, it will deliver color images that show surface features.
"The spacecraft is in perfect health; it's full of fuel; and it's carrying a scientific arsenal of seven instruments that are combined the most powerful suite of instruments ever brought to bear on the first reconnaissance of a new planet,” enthused Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator.
June 30, 2015
These images of planet Pluto, taken from New Horizons, show mysterious bright spots, New Horizons is 14.2 million miles from Pluto.
July 8, 2015
This image was taken on July 7, when the NASA spacecraft was just under 5 million miles from Pluto
This side of Pluto has regions of varying brightness. Most prominent are an elongated dark feature known as “the whale,” and a large heart-shaped bright area on the right. Above those features is a polar region.
This side of Pluto has regions of varying brightness. Most prominent are an elongated dark feature known as “the whale,” and a large heart-shaped bright area on the right. Above those features is a polar region.
July 14, 2015
The nine-year mission to Pluto made history when it zoomed within 7,800 miles of the Planet.
Pluto is a world with various kinds of brightness, very dark regions near the equator, very bright regions just to the north of that and a broad intermediate zone over the pole. also, Pluto has strong atmospheric cycles with snow on its surface.
It will be October 2016 before all the data from the New Horizons mission is transmitted back to Earth.
Pluto is a world with various kinds of brightness, very dark regions near the equator, very bright regions just to the north of that and a broad intermediate zone over the pole. also, Pluto has strong atmospheric cycles with snow on its surface.
It will be October 2016 before all the data from the New Horizons mission is transmitted back to Earth.
What is a planet? ( The Great Debate)
For generations of kids the answer was easy. A big ball of rock or gas that orbited our Sun, and there were nine of them in our solar system.
But then astronomers started finding more Pluto-sized objects orbiting beyond Neptune.
Then they found Jupiter-sized objects circling distant stars, first by the handful and then by the hundreds.
Suddenly the answer wasn't so easy. Were all these new-found things planets?
Since the International Astronomical Union (IAU) is in charge of naming these newly discovered worlds, they tackled the question at their 2006 meeting.
They tried to come up with a definition of a planet that everyone could agree on. But the astronomers couldn't agree. In the end, they voted and picked a definition that they thought would work.
The current, official definition says that a planet is a celestial body that:is in orbit around the Sun,is round or nearly round, and has "cleared the neighborhood" around its orbit.
But this definition baffled the public and classrooms around the country. For one thing, it only applied to planets in our solar system. What about all those exoplanets orbiting other stars? Are they planets?
Pluto was suddenly called a dwarf planet. Is a dwarf planet a small planet?
Not according to the IAU. Even though a dwarf fruit tree is still a small fruit tree, and a dwarf hamster is still a small hamster
the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics decided to revisit the question of "what is a planet?"
On September 18th, 2012 they hosted a debate among three leading experts in planetary science, each of whom presented their case as to what a planet is or isn't.
The goal: to find a definition that the eager public audience could agree on.
Science historian Dr. Owen Gingerich, who chaired the IAU planet definition committee, presented the historical viewpoint.
Dr. Gareth Williams, associate director of the Minor Planet Center, presented the IAU's viewpoint.
And Dr. Dimitar Sasselov, director of the Harvard Origins of Life Initiative, presented the exoplanet scientist's viewpoint.
Gingerich argued that "a planet is a culturally defined word that changes over time," and that Pluto is a planet.
Williams defended the IAU definition, which declares that Pluto is not a planet.
And Sasselov defined a planet as "the smallest spherical lump of matter that formed around stars or stellar remnants," which means Pluto is a planet.
.After these experts made their best case, the audience got to vote on what a planet is or isn't and whether Pluto was in or out.
According to the audience, Gingrich's and Sasselov's definitions won the day, Williams was out voted 2-1. Pluto is a planet. and its status as our 9th planet was reinstated.
Petitioning International Astronomical Union
Declare Pluto a Planet
https://www.change.org/p/international-astronomical-union-declare-pluto-a-planet-plutoflyby#petition-letter
For generations of kids the answer was easy. A big ball of rock or gas that orbited our Sun, and there were nine of them in our solar system.
But then astronomers started finding more Pluto-sized objects orbiting beyond Neptune.
Then they found Jupiter-sized objects circling distant stars, first by the handful and then by the hundreds.
Suddenly the answer wasn't so easy. Were all these new-found things planets?
Since the International Astronomical Union (IAU) is in charge of naming these newly discovered worlds, they tackled the question at their 2006 meeting.
They tried to come up with a definition of a planet that everyone could agree on. But the astronomers couldn't agree. In the end, they voted and picked a definition that they thought would work.
The current, official definition says that a planet is a celestial body that:is in orbit around the Sun,is round or nearly round, and has "cleared the neighborhood" around its orbit.
But this definition baffled the public and classrooms around the country. For one thing, it only applied to planets in our solar system. What about all those exoplanets orbiting other stars? Are they planets?
Pluto was suddenly called a dwarf planet. Is a dwarf planet a small planet?
Not according to the IAU. Even though a dwarf fruit tree is still a small fruit tree, and a dwarf hamster is still a small hamster
the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics decided to revisit the question of "what is a planet?"
On September 18th, 2012 they hosted a debate among three leading experts in planetary science, each of whom presented their case as to what a planet is or isn't.
The goal: to find a definition that the eager public audience could agree on.
Science historian Dr. Owen Gingerich, who chaired the IAU planet definition committee, presented the historical viewpoint.
Dr. Gareth Williams, associate director of the Minor Planet Center, presented the IAU's viewpoint.
And Dr. Dimitar Sasselov, director of the Harvard Origins of Life Initiative, presented the exoplanet scientist's viewpoint.
Gingerich argued that "a planet is a culturally defined word that changes over time," and that Pluto is a planet.
Williams defended the IAU definition, which declares that Pluto is not a planet.
And Sasselov defined a planet as "the smallest spherical lump of matter that formed around stars or stellar remnants," which means Pluto is a planet.
.After these experts made their best case, the audience got to vote on what a planet is or isn't and whether Pluto was in or out.
According to the audience, Gingrich's and Sasselov's definitions won the day, Williams was out voted 2-1. Pluto is a planet. and its status as our 9th planet was reinstated.
Petitioning International Astronomical Union
Declare Pluto a Planet
https://www.change.org/p/international-astronomical-union-declare-pluto-a-planet-plutoflyby#petition-letter
Photo (right) enhanced in " Lightroom"
Pluto's dwarf planet status is 'bullshit' says lead scientist of NASA mission
Pluto is perhaps the most beloved object in our Solar System.
So when the New Horizons spacecraft flew past Pluto on July 14 — a nearly 10-year, 3-billion-mile journey — we weren't too surprised to learn NASA saw unprecedented traffic to its website, and that the news made the front page of 450 newspapers.
Alan Stern, the lead scientist behind the New Horizons mission, had a lot to celebrate that day:
The mission to Pluto was meant to complete the exploration of the planets in the Solar System. But scientists reclassified Pluto from a planet to a "dwarf planet" shortly after New Horizons launched in 2006.
But Stern has a clear opinion about Pluto's demotion:
"It's bullshit," he told Tech Insider (and said we could quote him on that).
The problem, Stern said, is that the reclassification largely stemmed from the opinions of astronomers, not planetary scientists.
His beef here is that astronomers study a large variety of celestial objects and cosmic phenomena, while planetary scientists focus solely on planets, moons, and planetary systems.
"Why would you listen to an astronomer about a planet?" Stern said.
He compared it to going to a podiatrist for brain surgery instead of a brain surgeon.
"Even though they're both doctors, they have different expertise," Stern said. "You really should listen to planetary scientists that know something about this subject. When we look at an object like Pluto, we don't know what else to call it."
That's because Pluto meets the main criteria for planethood: It is rounded by its own gravity.
But there's more than that, Stern said. Pluto is unexpectedly complex. It has more moons than the entirety of the inner Solar System. It possesses close to a million times the amount of atmosphere that Mercury has. The surface has water ice mountains that could rival the Rocky Mountains here on Earth. It's frozen plains are lined with ridges that scientists think are caused by some kind of ongoing geological process. "We were just dumbfounded by what a wonderland it is scientifically," Stern said.
A non-planet shouldn't be so active.
"Pluto qualifies in every respect," he said. Astronomers — not planetary scientists — "made up a definition, which is actually bogus."
So when the New Horizons spacecraft flew past Pluto on July 14 — a nearly 10-year, 3-billion-mile journey — we weren't too surprised to learn NASA saw unprecedented traffic to its website, and that the news made the front page of 450 newspapers.
Alan Stern, the lead scientist behind the New Horizons mission, had a lot to celebrate that day:
The mission to Pluto was meant to complete the exploration of the planets in the Solar System. But scientists reclassified Pluto from a planet to a "dwarf planet" shortly after New Horizons launched in 2006.
But Stern has a clear opinion about Pluto's demotion:
"It's bullshit," he told Tech Insider (and said we could quote him on that).
The problem, Stern said, is that the reclassification largely stemmed from the opinions of astronomers, not planetary scientists.
His beef here is that astronomers study a large variety of celestial objects and cosmic phenomena, while planetary scientists focus solely on planets, moons, and planetary systems.
"Why would you listen to an astronomer about a planet?" Stern said.
He compared it to going to a podiatrist for brain surgery instead of a brain surgeon.
"Even though they're both doctors, they have different expertise," Stern said. "You really should listen to planetary scientists that know something about this subject. When we look at an object like Pluto, we don't know what else to call it."
That's because Pluto meets the main criteria for planethood: It is rounded by its own gravity.
But there's more than that, Stern said. Pluto is unexpectedly complex. It has more moons than the entirety of the inner Solar System. It possesses close to a million times the amount of atmosphere that Mercury has. The surface has water ice mountains that could rival the Rocky Mountains here on Earth. It's frozen plains are lined with ridges that scientists think are caused by some kind of ongoing geological process. "We were just dumbfounded by what a wonderland it is scientifically," Stern said.
A non-planet shouldn't be so active.
"Pluto qualifies in every respect," he said. Astronomers — not planetary scientists — "made up a definition, which is actually bogus."