{"id":19183,"date":"2025-07-15T10:24:38","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T14:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/?p=19183"},"modified":"2025-08-25T11:37:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T15:37:25","slug":"pluto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/pluto\/","title":{"rendered":"Pluto"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"\">Remember Pluto? It used to be a planet. Pluto was discovered back in 1930 and was considered to be the 9th planet for many years until 2006 when it was reclassified as a dwarf planet. It is now officially one of five dwarf planets along with Ceres, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/933_BIG_P_COLOR_2_TRUE_COLOR1_1980.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" data-attachment-id=\"3542\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/reclassifying-pluto\/933_big_p_color_2_true_color1_1980\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/933_BIG_P_COLOR_2_TRUE_COLOR1_1980.jpg?fit=1980%2C1980&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1980,1980\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"933_BIG_P_COLOR_2_TRUE_COLOR1_1980\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Pluto&lt;br \/&gt;\nImage Credit: NASA\/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory\/Southwest Research Institute\/Alex Parker&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/933_BIG_P_COLOR_2_TRUE_COLOR1_1980.jpg?fit=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/933_BIG_P_COLOR_2_TRUE_COLOR1_1980.jpg?resize=1024%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3542\" style=\"width:365px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/933_BIG_P_COLOR_2_TRUE_COLOR1_1980.jpg?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/933_BIG_P_COLOR_2_TRUE_COLOR1_1980.jpg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/933_BIG_P_COLOR_2_TRUE_COLOR1_1980.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/933_BIG_P_COLOR_2_TRUE_COLOR1_1980.jpg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/933_BIG_P_COLOR_2_TRUE_COLOR1_1980.jpg?resize=1536%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/933_BIG_P_COLOR_2_TRUE_COLOR1_1980.jpg?w=1980&amp;ssl=1 1980w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pluto\nImage Credit: NASA\/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory\/Southwest Research Institute\/Alex Parker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Ten years ago this month (July 2015) the New Horizons spacecraft flew by Pluto and gave us our first close up look at the <s>9th planet<\/s>, sorry dwarf planet. Oh, and by the way, nineteen years ago (August 2006), Pluto was officially reclassified as a dwarf planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">Monika Luabeya. &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/image-article\/10-years-ago-nasas-new-horizons-captures-plutos-heart\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">10 Years Ago: NASA\u2019s New Horizons Captures Pluto\u2019s Heart<\/a>.\u201d NASA. July 14, 2025.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Deborah Byrd. &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/space\/july-4-2015-new-horizons-at-pluto\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">New Horizons visited Pluto 10 years ago.<\/a>\u201d EarthSky. July 13, 2025.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">McKenzie Prillaman. &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/new-horizons-pluto-flyby-anniversary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">New Horizons visited Pluto 10 years ago. We\u2019re still learning from it<\/a>.\u201d Science News. July 11, 2025.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Brian Lada,&nbsp;Accuweather.com. &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.upi.com\/Science_News\/2025\/07\/11\/Pluto-photos-from-NASAs-New-Horizons-still-captivating-scientists-decade-later\/4441752266748\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pluto photos from NASA&#8217;s New Horizons still captivating scientists decade later<\/a>.\u201d UPI. July 11, 2025. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Asa Stahl, PhD. &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/articles\/ten-years-after-pluto-new-horizons-faces-a-new-threat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ten years after Pluto, New Horizons faces a new threat<\/a>.\u201d The Planetary Society. July 14, 2025. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/this-day-in-history\/August-24\/pluto-demoted-dwarf-planet\">Pluto is demoted<\/a>.\u201d History.com.&nbsp;June 30, 2022. Updated:&nbsp;May 27, 2025.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Christopher Klein. \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/articles\/the-rise-and-fall-of-planet-pluto\">The Rise and Fall of Planet Pluto<\/a>.\u201d History.com. August 24, 2016. Updated:&nbsp;May 27, 2025<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">For a more in-depth look at Pluto, see our previous blogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/discovering-pluto\/\">Discovering Pluto<\/a>. FAS Astronomer Blog. February 2020.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/pluto-the-kuiper-belt-and-the-outer-solar-system\/\">Pluto and the Outer Solar System<\/a>. FAS Astronomers Blog. April 2021.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/reclassifying-pluto\/\">Reclassifying Pluto<\/a>. FAS Astronomers Blog. December 2021.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Remember Pluto? It used to be a planet. Pluto was discovered back in 1930 and was considered to be the 9th planet for many years until 2006 when it was reclassified as a dwarf planet. It is now officially one of five dwarf planets along with Ceres, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris. Ten years ago this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3542,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[965,127],"class_list":["post-19183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-astronomy","tag-july-2025","tag-pluto"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/933_BIG_P_COLOR_2_TRUE_COLOR1_1980.jpg?fit=1980%2C1980&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s2VHcz-pluto","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19183"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20077,"href":"https:\/\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19183\/revisions\/20077"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fas37.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}