To Pluto and Beyond by Elaine Scott

Author:Elaine Scott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2018-07-16T16:00:00+00:00

New Horizons also had a chance to study a binary planet for the first time. Binary means something has two parts. In this case, Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, are locked together like two ballroom dancers, as they orbit in space. One day on Pluto is equal to six days and nine hours of Earth time. Charon is locked to Pluto in this binary system, so it takes Charon six days and nine hours to orbit around Pluto. As a result, if you were standing on Pluto looking out at Charon, this moon wouldn’t appear to move in the night sky. Unlike Earth’s moon, Charon is always in the same place in the sky. We know there are many binary stars in our galaxy, and there may be other binary planets, too. Astronomers are eager to learn more about the Pluto-Charon binary system. None of these systems has ever been explored, until now.

Scientists are also interested in the asteroids, meteoroids, and comets—“impactors,” as they are often called—that form in the Kuiper Belt. These impactors whizzed through the developing solar system, and in its early stages slammed into newly forming objects, like Earth’s moon and even Earth itself. New Horizons was equipped to study the craters on Pluto, hoping to learn more about the activity that was taking place there, as our solar system formed.

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