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Rise and Fall of Pluto
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The Mystery
Percivall Howell found deviations in Neptune's and Uranus' orbit. He concluded that something big enough must be tugging on their orbits. He never found out what it could be. -
The Rises
Clyde Tomboaugh at Lowell Observatory finally solved the mystery with the discovery of a large celestial body behind Neptune. It was then classified as a planet. -
The Name
Venetia Burney was given five pounds for her suggestion. Her suggestion was Pluto. -
The Belt
Gerard Kuiper discovered a large outer area to our Solar System composed of trillions of icy fragments and bodies. Pluto falls into the Kuiper Belt. -
The Stint
The twenty year period were Pluto is closer to the sun than Neptune begins. -
The Big One
James W. Christy discovered the dwarf planet's first discovered and largest moon at the NOFS. It's name is Charon. -
The Surface
Hubble Space Telescope photographed the first surface photos. -
The Headquarters
The Hayden Sphere opens, grouping Pluto with the Kuiper Belt and not with the other planets. This was a big deal for everybody from New York Times writers to school children -
The Eris
Mike Brown and his team discovered it. It is the biggest known dwarf planet. 27 percent bigger than Pluto. This was used as a major example to un-classifying Pluto as a planet. -
The Nix
The Hubble Space Telescope was used by the Pluto Companion Search Team to find this moon. Its named after the Greek Goddess Nyx, the Goddess of night. -
The Small One
Pluto's smallest moon was discovered by none other than Mark R. Showalter. It is called Hydra. It is named after the mythical creature Hydra, and several headed reptillian monster. -
The Launch
The unmaned rocket New Horizons plans on flying by pluto and its five moons. -
The Fall
A group of leading astronomers met in Prague. They decided that, because of new guidlines, Pluto was in fact not a Planet -
The Kerberos
Discovered by M. R. Showalter. Named after the guard dog of the underworld, Cerberus. It is one of pluto's smallest moons. -
The Styx
Mark R. Showalter, using the Hubble Space Telescope, discovered Pluto's fifth satalite. -
The Flyby
New Horizons is projected to flyby Pluto and its five moons at this time.
