Discovery of Pluto

18
February 2020

Pluto, until recently considered the ninth planet of the Solar System, is located 40 times farther from the Sun than the Earth. American astronomer Percival Lowell theoretically predicted the existence of the planet 1915 but it lacked proper study for a long time until 15 years after Lowell’s prediction a member of his observatory Clyde Tombaugh finally discovered the planet. In 2006, the Prague Assembly of the International Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of its status of a Solar System planet. Instead it is now referred to as a dwarf planet. After Pluto was excluded from the list of Solar System planets this list contains 8 planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. According to the new classification, Pluto is a small planet or a planetoid.

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