Written by Kaia Atzberger
Once upon a December, the story of Anastasia was made popular when a woman claimed she was the believably dead princess. Years of controversy brought attention to her story from the public. As it turned out, the woman was an imposter. However, historians have argued that the intriguing commotion she created caused people to care about the Romanov’s story which they wouldn’t have without the claim. One could argue this is what happened to Pluto. If Pluto hadn’t been a planet first would we care? I’m here to argue why Pluto’s story does make it so fascinating but why it is incredibly interesting on its own merit as well.
How many planets are in the solar system? Eight, nine, hundreds? It depends on who and when you ask. The ancient Babylonians could detect Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn with just the naked eye. The development of better telescopes and overall technology led to further discoveries of Uranus and Neptune. Building off of Percival Lowell’s search for a Planet X, Clyde Tombaugh examined pairs of photographic plates using a blink-microscope comparator. Then, on the momentous day of February 18, 1930, the planets and the fates and all the stars aligned when Tombaugh discovered a moving object now known as Pluto in the Kuiper Belt. He had done it!
Not only was this the first planet to be discovered in almost 100 years, but it was also the only one to be discovered in the United States and the only planet to be named by a child. Venetia Burney was well versed in Greek mythology and upon Pluto’s discovery, suggested the name to her grandfather. He was friends with a member of the Royal Astronomical Society who passed it forward to the astronomers at Lowell Observatory. They unanimously voted in favor of her choice.
Pluto lived in glory for less than one full Plutonian year. In 2005, a man named Mike Brown discovered Eris which appeared larger than Pluto. This led astronomers to officially consider the definition of a planet, which until then had not been formalized. In 2006, the IAU was asked to determine whether Pluto, Eris, and potentially hundreds more celestial bodies would be classified as planets. They decided a planet must orbit a star, have enough gravitational force to attain a
spherical shape, and clear its orbit of similar size objects. Pluto failed the third criterion and was redefined as a dwarf planet. Eris did as well and Mike Brown recalls in his memoir that he was sad his discovery would never achieve planethood. However, can we discuss this IAU definition? It is incredibly vague and scientists continue to argue over it. As astronomy is a constantly evolving study, I’m of the opinion that we shouldn’t blindly accept that the IAU’s decision will never change. In fact, Pluto is still legally a planet whenever it passes over the skies of New Mexico where it was discovered.
Pushing past history, Pluto has many wondrous features. First of all, Pluto has an adorable ice valley in the shape of a heart. It’s a world with blue skies, mountains the size of the Rockies, and red snow. Pluto’s moons Hydra, Kerberos, Styx, and Nix are quite small but its fifth moon, Charon, is quite impressive. It is of similar size to Pluto and its gravitational influence tidally locks the two creating a nearly binary system. In 2015, the New Horizons mission took beautiful pictures during the first-ever spacecraft visit to Pluto. Among New Horizons’ exciting discoveries, it found that Pluto is surprisingly geologically active. Interestingly, the principal investigator of this mission, Alan Stern, is one of the more notable advocates against the IAU’s reclassification.
Ultimately, there are so many reasons why Pluto is the best planet. It has a compelling story, unique characteristics, and scientific appeal. Learning about Pluto is what made me want to study astronomy. It may not be an official planet (for now), but it will always hold a special place in my heart.
Sources:
“I Was Anastasia” by Ariel Lawhon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_discovery_of_Solar_System_planets_and_their_moon
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto#Discovery
“Plates, Pluto, and Planets X” by Clyde Tombaugh in Sky & Telescope April 1991
“The Girl Who Named Pluto” by Alice B. McGinty and Elizabeth Haidle
“How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming” by Mike Brown
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/in-depth/