Pluto – News Stories About Pluto - Page 2

Get Ready to Welcome
Pluto Back as a Planet

OPINION

Feb 25, 2015 6:34 PM CST

Get Ready to Welcome Pluto Back as a Planet

Astronomer thinks Ceres will join the club, too

(Newser) - Vanderbilt astronomer David Weintraub thinks Pluto was wrongly kicked out of the planet club in 2006. But he's confident that this is going to be a very big year for Pluto and for another so-called "dwarf planet" named Ceres, he writes in the Conversation . NASA spacecraft will visit...

Two Planets
May Lurk
Beyond Pluto

Jan 17, 2015 6:38 AM CST

Two Planets May Lurk Beyond Pluto

Astronomers can't otherwise explain behavior of objects way out there

(Newser) - It might soon be time to change all those grade-school dioramas of the solar system again: Astronomers think at least two more planets exist, reports Universe Today . In two studies from the UK and Spain, scientists say the planets' existence is the only way to explain why objects are behaving...

NASA Craft Gets Final
Wake-Up Call for Pluto Flyby

Dec 8, 2014 4:01 PM CST

NASA Craft Gets Final Wake-Up Call for Pluto Flyby

New Horizons probe is awake and ready for its July 2015 encounter

(Newser) - New Horizons just got what's probably the earliest wakeup call ever. Even though it's not supposed to fly by Pluto—the destination of its nine-year, 3-billion-mile journey—until July, the NASA craft roused itself from its "hibernation" slumber and is fully awake for the last leg of...

We'll Be Visiting
Pluto in a Year
... Sort Of

Jul 14, 2014 12:40 PM CDT

We'll Be Visiting Pluto in a Year ... Sort Of

Flyby mission to get closer to dwarf planet than ever before

(Newser) - Exactly one year from today, a spacecraft will be "arriving" at Pluto—or so a planetary scientist puts it. More specifically, the New Horizons craft, about the size of a baby grand piano and carrying no one, will be passing closer to the dwarf planet than we've ever...

Astronomers Ignore
People's Pick for
Pluto Moon Name

Jul 3, 2013 8:36 AM CDT

Astronomers Ignore People's Pick for Pluto Moon Name

Moons named Styx and Kerberos, despite William Shatner's campaign

(Newser) - Though Star Trek fans (led by William Shatner) overwhelmingly won an online vote to name one of Pluto's recently found moons "Vulcan" earlier this year, the International Astronomical Union has decided against the moniker. It has named the former planet's fourth and fifth moons "Styx" and...

'Vulcan' Wins
Pluto's Moon
Naming Contest

Feb 26, 2013 3:03 AM CST

'Vulcan' Wins Pluto's Moon Naming Contest

'Captain Kirk' hails win as Cerberus comes 2nd

(Newser) - The contest to pick Hades-related names for Pluto's fourth and fifth moons is over and the winner will be familiar to Star Trek fans: Vulcan was the runaway winner of the poll at plutorocks.com , taking 174,000 votes out of 475,000 cast for 21 candidates. Vulcan is...

2 Pluto Moons
in Need of
Devilish Names

Feb 11, 2013 1:03 PM CST

2 Pluto Moons in Need of Devilish Names

P4 and P5 will soon be called something more underworld-y

(Newser) - Want to name Pluto's two tiniest moons? Then you'll need to dig deep into mythology. Astronomers announced a contest today to name the two itty-bitty moons of Pluto discovered over the past two years . Three Pluto moons already have names associated with Hades and the underworld: Charon, the...

Moon No. 5 Found for Pluto

Jul 12, 2012 5:33 AM CDT

Moon No. 5 Found for Pluto

Just 6 miles across, P5 is Pluto's smallest moon yet

(Newser) - It's not a chapter in the Twilight series, but it is a new moon: astronomers have discovered a tiny fifth satellite revolving around distant Pluto, reports Space.com . One year after P4 was announced, now the Hubble Telescope has spied a fifth moon. Pluto's biggest moon, Charon, is...

Small, Heavy,
and Shiny—
Planetoid
Surprises
Astronomers

Oct 28, 2011 5:29 AM CDT

Small, Heavy, and Shiny— Planetoid Surprises Astronomers

Distant Eris may be more like Mercury than Pluto

(Newser) - It's been six years since distant Eris was discovered, a small planetoid that led to Pluto losing its planetary status. But since it lies three times further from the sun than Pluto, Eris was very difficult to observe and little was known about it—until now. Last year Eris...

Pluto Turning Redder

Feb 5, 2010 2:10 AM CST

Pluto Turning Redder

Hubble photos reveal major changes on ex-planet's surface

(Newser) - Astronomers haven't been ignoring Pluto since its demotion to "dwarf planet" in 2006, particularly now that it's putting on a color show for scientists. Newly processed images from the Hubble Space Telescope have given scientists their best view yet of Pluto, which is 20% redder than it used to...

Pluto Is Still a Planet,
Illinois Senate Declares

Mar 6, 2009 12:59 PM CST

Pluto Is Still a Planet, Illinois Senate Declares

(Newser) - Having helped install a hometown boy in the White House and ousted its colorful governor, Illinois is next out to save Pluto, the Guardian reports. The state senate blasted the International Astronomical Union’s 2006 decision to demote the erstwhile ninth planet to a “dwarf planet,” and voted...

Astronomers Throw Pluto
a Bone

Jun 12, 2008 11:46 AM CDT

Astronomers Throw Pluto a Bone

Disgraced former planet gets its own category: 'plutoid'

(Newser) - Pluto-fans depressed over the former planet's demotion may be cheered by a new decision that small, nearly spherical objects orbiting beyond Neptune will be called "plutoids." The new name has been sanctioned by the International Astronomical Union, the same organization that stripped Pluto of its planetary status 2...

NASA Probe Gets Lucky with Jupiter Flyby

Oct 9, 2007 10:26 PM CDT

NASA Probe Gets Lucky with Jupiter Flyby

Spacecraft New Horizons sees storms and supervolcanoes

(Newser) - New Horizons, the robotic probe destined to reach Pluto in 2015, took some exciting photos when it flew within 1.4 million miles of Jupiter last February. Data from the fruitful detour for NASA’s fastest spacecraft will be published in Science this month. Highlights include photos of Jupiter’s...

25 Biggest Scientific Discoveries

Aug 21, 2007 1:10 PM CDT

25 Biggest Scientific Discoveries

From the unfathomably small to the mind-blowingly huge, the most significant breakthroughs

(Newser) - The invention of the wheel was pretty good. Fire, even better. But what has science done for us lately? USA Today lists the top 25 scientific discoveries; here are the top 10:

Accelerating universe
Human genome
Climate accord