www.whyville.net Aug 24, 2000 Weekly Issue


The Last Frontier: Pluto

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The world's last frontier is space, the most outer reaches known to man. For 2 more weeks, I will report on something of interest from the realms of space.

by Etrnl *
Space Explorer

The Last Frontier: Pluto

Pluto, the mysterious planet of time and death. What is Pluto? Let's see...

MYTHS:
Pluto, or Hades (Hade-ees), is the Roman god of Death. He fell in love with the beautiful Persephone, whom Aphrodite, or Venus, hated so much. Aphrodite hated Persephone because of her beauty, that almost outranked her own. Aphrodite was glad to see it when Hades took Persephone to the underworld to live there with him. While there, she ate six seeds of a fruit. Because of this, she had to stay in the underworld six months out of the year.

Her mother was the goddess of nature. Every six months that Persephone was away, she mourned, and everything wilted (fall/winter). When Persephone came back, she was happy, and made everything bloom (spring/summer). This is how the Greeks thought the seasons occured.

MISSIONS:
Actually, NONE! No missions have been sent to Pluto, although the Pluto-Kuiper Express is soon to be sent, to arrive around 2010 as a fly-by.

FACTS:
FUN FACT: Pluto has a very strange orbit, or movement around the sun! Sometimes, Pluto becomes the eighth planet, switching with Neptune, which becomes the ninth! Here's what this site said:

    "Pluto's unique orbit causes it to periodically come within the orbit of Neptune. Pluto was the eighth planet from the Sun from February 7th, 1979 through February 11, 1999. Now Pluto will remain the ninth planet through the 23rd century."
Cool!

Pluto has a very thin atmophere when it becomes the 8th planet from the sun. Its ice melts and forms a VERY VERY thin atmosphere... HARD TO BELIEVE! Pluto's air is made out of these few chemicals: nitrogen gas, carbon monoxide and methane.

Pluto has one moon, Charon, which is pratically a "double planet" with Pluto, because they orbit each other, and they are similar in size!

For more info on Pluto, check out the link above.

What do you think? Have any questions? Y-mail me @ Etrnl *.

Thanx, Etrnl *


 

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