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The semi-major axis of Pluto's orbit varies between about 39.3 and 39.6 AU with a period of about 19,951 years, corresponding to an orbital period varying between 246 and 249 years. The semi-major axis and period are presently getting longer.
[47] [48] A Florida state quarter coin, whose design commemorates human exploration, is included, officially as a trim weight, [49] as is a Maryland state quarter to honor the probe's builders. [40] One of the science packages (a dust counter) is named after Venetia Burney , who, as a child, suggested the name "Pluto" after its discovery.
Pluto belongs to a group of objects that distantly orbit the sun called the Kuiper Belt, where thousands of icy remnants left over from the formation of the solar system linger. Eight of the 10 ...
A simulated view of the Pluto–Charon system showing that Pluto orbits a point outside itself. Also visible is the mutual tidal locking between the two bodies. Charon and Pluto orbit each other every 6.387 days. The two objects are gravitationally locked to one another, so each keeps the same face towards the other. This is a case of mutual ...
The researchers used a Webb instrument called the Near-Infrared Spectrograph to make four observations in 2022 and 2023, getting full coverage of Charon's northern hemisphere.
Grounds of the Florida State Capitol. On the northeast corner of the Capitol Complex is the Florida Sri Chinmoy Peace State Marker. [13] East of the House Office Building is a replica of the Liberty Bell. The replica was a gift to the citizens of Florida as a symbol of the 1950 United States Savings Bonds Independence Drive.
Pluto's four small circumbinary moons orbit Pluto at two to four times the distance of Charon, ranging from Styx at 42,700 kilometres to Hydra at 64,800 kilometres from the barycenter of the system. They have nearly circular prograde orbits in the same orbital plane as Charon. All are much smaller than Charon.
After an intense political battle, a revised mission to Pluto called New Horizons was granted funding from the US government in 2003. [22] New Horizons was launched successfully on 19 January 2006. The mission leader, S. Alan Stern, confirmed that some of the ashes of Clyde Tombaugh, who died in 1997, had been placed aboard the spacecraft. [23]