Once referred to as the 9th planet of our solar system, Pluto’s atmosphere might completely disappear by 2030. Located in the Kuiper Belt along with debris of icy objects in the outer part of the solar system, Pluto, also known as 143430 Pluto, was discovered by astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh in the early 20th century in an attempt to seek out the 9th planet. Tombaugh and another researcher in the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, were able to rule out Pluto after using astronomical techniques to map out the approximate location of the 9th planet.
Excitement scrambled worldwide, and many people sought out potential names for the distant cold planet. So, they received more than 1,000 suggestions for the planet worldwide. However, none could compare to the suggestion of an 11-year-old girl named Venetia Bernie. She suggested that, similar to the Roman god of the underworld, Pluto, the planet was far from the sun, making it dark and mysterious. Also, the first two letters of Pluto correlated with the initials of Percival Lowell, who encouraged the search for Planet X, which we now know as Pluto.
For the next 76 years after the discovery and naming of Pluto, it was considered to be the 9th planet in our solar system. However, scientists began to speculate if Pluto should have that title. In contrast to the other 8 planets, Pluto was a small planet compared to the other planets. To put it in perspective, Pluto’s size is about two-thirds the size of Earth’s moon. Also, compared to the rest of the planets, Pluto’s orbit seemed unusual since it’s orbit was oval-shaped. Pluto, being so far away from the sun, has an icy composition that is mostly consistency of ice and rock, and it’s atmosphere is thin and made up of methane and carbon monoxide. However, what drove scientists to finally strip Pluto of the title of “planet” was when scientists discovery of a planet by the name of Eris in the Kuiper Belt. Similar to Pluto, Eris was a large body of ice and it was located on the outer part of the solar system. What was different however, was that Eris was much larger than Pluto, which caused speculations between scientists regarding Pluto’s title. After further discussion between astronomers, Pluto was demoted from its title in August 2006 by the International Astronomical Union and was reclassified as a “dwarf planet.”
Despite its demotion, Pluto’s legacy as a former planet has stayed significant and even helped scientists better understand the variety of celestial objects in the Kuiper Belt. Due to Pluto growing farther and farther from the sun each day, its icy atmosphere will eventually freeze completely, and Pluto will just be frozen and ejected to its orbit. However, some scientists theorize that Pluto’s thin atmosphere could completely disappear by 2030 and collapse. Though the dwarf planet isn’t as highly regarded as it was before, Pluto remains a celestial object of fascination that holds a special place with the public and astronomical science.
Mission Viejo Library Teen Voice 