I would like to ask you how many major planets are in the solar system, , Some people may answer eight major planets , but some people will stick to the statement nine major planets .
"Nine Planets" big family
So what exactly causes everyone's "memory deviation"? The culprit is the Pluto we are going to introduce today.
Is Pluto considered one of the planets? If you could land on Pluto, what kind of world would you see? How big is the sun there? Let us take these questions and approach this celestial body called the "orphan" of the solar system and see what is going on.
Pluto simulation map
changed from "Pluto" to "Cute King"
Pluto . It sounds not simple just by name. However, after August 2006, this guy rarely calls it like this by scientists, but has a number "34340". In this way, Pluto, which was once highly watched, was demoted overnight, and became an dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt.
Pluto is the English name of Pluto, which comes from the god of the underworld in Roman mythology. Because the distance between them is too far, was just speculated in the 19th century that Pluto existed. It was not until the 1930s that I tried my best to find the "looming" Pluto from multiple photos.
photos of humans discovering Pluto
However, at that time Pluto was just a small spot on the photo, and people didn't know much about it. But even so, people took it as a matter of course to include it in the planet's team and treated it directly as a planet.
However, with the discovery of Pluto's weird satellite " Charon ", the development of things ushered in a turning point. During the first measurement, people obtained the mass of Pluto, and is about .2% of the mass of the earth, which means it is not as big as the moon.
Later, after further confirming that Pluto was really very small, this former "Pluto" completely became " cute king ". This series of discoveries also made Pluto's status in danger. It was not until 2006 that it was officially relegated and kicked out of the planet's team .
Pluto joined the Kuiper Belt celestial body family
From then on, the nine planets in the solar system of have become eight planets. Pluto, which was originally a planet, became the dwarf galaxy , and the memory deviation is probably because some people do not understand Pluto's degradation event.
Of course, although its size has become mini, it does not affect Pluto's "cold" temperament. Because it is far away from the solar system, this guy can be regarded as the real frozen planet . The surface temperature of is as low as minus 229 degrees Celsius. The atmosphere is mainly composed of methane , nitrogen , carbon monoxide , etc.
Pluto's ice mountains, plains and mist layers
In addition, Pluto has another weird feature, that is its orbit . You should know that no matter how big the difference between planets is, everyone is controlled by the gravity of the sun. needs to orbit around the sun and .
It is worth mentioning that although the orbits of planets are not absolutely the same, they are essentially far away, and their orbits are relatively small in eccentricity and inclination. This makes their near-circular orbits almost on the same plane as ecliptic .
orbital diagram of the eight major planets in the solar system
However, Pluto is obviously one of them, because this guy has an eccentricity of , and there is also a super high inclination angle of , which means that its orbital orbit is a very flat ellipse of .
In this case, the perihelion and ahelion of Pluto are very different. can run in a region with a heliocentric distance of 29.7AU to 49.3AU, and will also cross the orbit of Neptune during operation.
"maverick" Pluto orbit
is also because of this. It takes 248 years for Pluto to rotate in one circle in , and according to current observations, its revolution time is getting longer and longer. So, what will humans see if they land on this strange celestial body? How big is the sun on Pluto?
The world you see after logging into Pluto
It should be noted that, based on our current technological development level, if you want to log into Pluto , it is equivalent to dreaming about . Therefore, what may happen after landing on Pluto is basically based on imagination.
But this is not a fool outing. After all, with 's new horizon number , we have also obtained more information about this weird celestial body .
is flying over Pluto's new horizons
First of all, before landing on Pluto, people must wear special "anti-freezing space suits" . You should know that the temperature of Pluto at more than 200 degrees Celsius is not a joke. Once the human body is exposed to this temperature, it can be frozen into a "human-shaped popsicle". Secondly, the anti-slip measures of the lander and shoes must be in place. Otherwise, after landing on the endless Pluto ice field, you may have to fall several times before you stand firm.
When everything is ready, you can start your Pluto exploration journey. After logging in, the entrance of should be a dim . Compared with the "bright hall" when landing on the moon, Pluto, which is far from the sun, can receive very little light.
Artistic creation of astronauts landing on Pluto
Of course, in the dim environment, is filled with ice and snow . Whether it is an iceberg several thousand meters high or a plain covered with ice layers, it proves that this is a cold and lonely planet. I believe that if the astronauts from the south landed, they would definitely be very excited. After all, this kind of "ice and snow" is basically impossible to see in the south. So, what if you look up at the sun hanging in the sky at this moment?
Whether Pluto is at the perihelion or arihelion at this time, the sun looks like a distant "small dot" , a big circle smaller than what we see on Earth. Of course, if you want to look directly at it, will still feel extremely dazzling . According to speculation, the visual magnitude of the sun at the perihelion is -19.4, etc., while the arihelion is -18.3, etc.
The huge sun also has such a "small" day
In this case, the brightness of is hundreds of times higher than the full moon's magnitude . Although it is still bright, it is still far behind the bright day on the earth.
In other words, if you want to sunbathe on Pluto, there will definitely be no chance. You should know that the sunlight takes more than four hours to get here, so even at noon, the situation on Pluto is similar to the dusk time on Earth.
Speaking of this, if you want to experience the "Pluto moment" on Earth, you might as well find a vast ice field in winter, bring a recliner, and wait for dusk to come. When dusk comes, the scene presented is similar to what you see on Pluto .
Queer Mountain Ice Field at dusk
So, will Pluto have life matter exist in such a cold? Why did some scientists think that Pluto has the opportunity to become a habitable planet or an oasis of life in the future?
Can Pluto become an oasis?
We said in the previous article that with New Horizons visiting Pluto, we have received more information about this "orphan" in the solar system. After receiving the data sent back by the New Horizons, scientists immediately launched the relevant analysis of .
Pluto map made with New Horizons
Although the complete analysis results take years to obtain, the preliminary analysis results have given everyone a lot of surprises, because the clues of seem to point to the fact that there is actually a huge liquid ocean under Pluto's hard ice shell. In this ocean, there may be many "life" "life" . Michael Summers, a planetary scientist who specializes in the structure and evolution of the planet's atmosphere in the New Horizons team, said: "Since carbon-hydrogen compounds and nitriles (another organic molecule) may be produced on Pluto, a more interesting chemical reaction that can promote the formation of living organisms may occur on this planet."
The area where water ice is found on the surface of Pluto
It is not difficult to see that scientists are still full of expectations for Pluto's life matter, and they firmly believe that in future exploration, more clues about life can definitely be found .
As for why Pluto, a dead cold planet, has the opportunity to become an oasis of life in the future, , , mainly because scientists speculate that in the next few billion years, will inevitably enter the aging period .
So when it begins to age and expands to about 100 times today, the distance between Pluto, which is far from the sun, and the sun, will be closer to .
Schematic diagram of the red giant sun
In this case, can break free from the severe cold of more than 200 degrees below zero and become warmer . If it really has a liquid ocean, then becoming an oasis is just around the corner.
In response to this New Horizons Stern, the person in charge of New Horizons, said: "According to our analysis, in billions of years, Pluto will become an oasis of life, and the scenery on this planet will become warm and pleasant, just like the Miami Beach in the United States, and this climate will last for at least millions of years."
What kind of life will Pluto in the future give birth to?
