2 WELCOME TO THE SOLAR SYSTEMAS
oo far a;alking perrillion miles—but more like a sun t never quite made it. Moststar systems in tarred), wary sun a sligy.
As for Pluto itself, nobody is quite sure is, or is made of, mosp it really is. A lot of astronomers believe it isn’t a planet at all,but merely t object so far found in a zone of galactic debris kno. t ually tronomer named F. C. Leonard in 1930,but tcive are knos—tcome past pretty regularly—of s (among t visitors ake) come fromtant Oort cloud, about wly.
It is certainly true t Pluto doesn’t act mucs. Not only is it runty andobscure, but it is so variable in its motions t no one can tell you exactly ury s orbit on more or less to’sorbital patipped (as it of alignment at an angle of seventeen degrees, like t tilted rakiss orbit is so irregular t for substantialperiods on eacs lonely circuits around t is closer to us tune is. Formost of tune tem’s most far-flung planet.
Only on February 11, 1999, did Pluto return to tside lane, to remain for t228 years.
So if Pluto really is a planet, it is certainly an odd one. It is very tiny: just one-quarter of 1percent as massive as Eart it doop of ted States, it quite y-eigates. t extremely anomalous; it means tour planetary system consists of four rocky inner planets, four gassy outer giants, and a tiny,solitary iceball. Moreover, to suppose t o findotion of space. terCy spotted Pluto’s moon, astronomers began to regard t section of ttentively and as of early December 2002 ional tran