Abstract
In recent decades, investigations of Pluto with up-to-date astronomical instruments yielded results that have been generally confirmed by the New Horizons mission. In 2006, in Prague, the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) reclassified Pluto as a member of the dwarf planet category according to the criteria defined by the IAU for the term “planet”. At the same time, interest in studies of Pluto was increasing, while the space investigations of Pluto were delayed. In 2006, the New Horizons Pluto spacecraft started its journey to Pluto. On July 14, 2015, the spacecraft, being in fly-by mode, made its closest approach to Pluto. The heterogeneities and properties of the surface and rarified atmosphere were investigated thoroughly. Due to the extreme remoteness of the spacecraft and the energy limitations, it will take 18 months to transmit the whole data volume. Along with the preliminary results of the New Horizons Pluto mission, this paper reviews the basics on Pluto and its moons acquired from the ground-based observations and with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). There are only a few meteorite craters on the surfaces of Pluto and Charon, which distinctly marks them apart from such satellites of the giant planets as Ganymede and Callisto. The explanation is that the surface of Pluto is young: its age is estimated at less than 100 Myr. Ice glaciers of apparently a nitrogen nature were found. Nitrogen is also the main component of the atmosphere of Pluto. The planet demonstrates the signs of strong geologic activity, though the energy sources of these processes are unknown.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cruikshank, D.P., Barucci, M.A., Emery, J.P., Fernandez, Y.R., Grundy, W.G., Noll, K.S., and Stansberry, J.A, Physical properties of transneptunian objects, in Protostars and Planets, Reipurth, V.B., Jewitt, D., and Keil, K., Eds., Univ. Arizona Press, 2007, pp. 879–893.
Cruikshank, D.P, Organic matter in the Solar System: From colors to spectral bands, in Organic Matter in Space, Kwok, S. and Sandford, S.A., Eds., Proc. 251st IAU Symp., Hong Kong, 2008, pp. 119–125.
Grebenikov, E.A. and Ryabov, Yu.A, Poiski i otkrytiya planet (Planets Searching and Discovering), 2nd ed., Moscow: Nauka, 1984.
Ksanfomality, L.V, Planets, dwarf planets, and small bodies in the solar system, Solar Syst. Res., 2007, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 174–176.
Kuiper, G.P, The diameter of Pluto, Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific, 1950, vol. 62, no. 366, pp. 133–137.
Nicholson, S.B. and Mayall, N.U, The probable value of the mass of Pluto, Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific, 1930, vol. 42, no. 250, p. 350; Pasific Leaflets, 1930, vol. 5, pp. 73–80.
Nicholson, S.B. and Mayall, N.U, Positions, orbit, and mass of Pluto, Astrophys. J., 1931, vol. 73, p. 73.
Ruskol, E.L., Estestvennye sputniki planet (Planets Natural Satellites), Moscow: VINITI, 1986.
Simon, T, The Search for Planet X, Basic Books, 1962.
Tombaugh, C.W, The search for the ninth planet, Pluto, Astron. Soc. Pacific, 1946, leaflets 5, pp. 73–80.
White, A, Planeta Pluton (The Pluto), Moscow: Mir, 1983.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © L.V. Ksanfomality, 2016, published in Astronomicheskii Vestnik, 2016, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 71–85.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ksanfomality, L.V. Pluto: Dwarf planet 134340. Sol Syst Res 50, 67–80 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0038094616010020
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0038094616010020