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STARDOME OBSERVATORY & FACTS, RESOURCES AND ACTIVITIES ON... P LUTO REDISCOVERED was identified as the ninth by in 1930. It has remained a fuzzy starry blur ever since, despite huge improvements in size and technology. Its large was discovered in 1978, followed by the much smaller and in 2005, in 2011 and in 2012. It was reclassified as a in 2006, along with , , and . Pluto can be regarded as a binary object, because its closest moon Charon is so large compared with Pluto itself. While our Moon is 1/81 the of the , SCIENCE CONTENT/ Charon is proportionally 10 times larger, at nearly CURRICULUM LINK 1/8 the mass of Pluto. Pluto. Image credit: NASA INVESTIGATE THE CONDITIONS Where the Earth holds the same face of the Moon ON THE AND THEIR MOONS, AND THE FACTORS towards us, so we never see the AFFECTING THEM. USE A (it is tidally locked), Pluto and Charon always face WIDER RANGE

each other, so neither sees the far side of the other VOCABULARY,OF SYMBOLS SCIENCE (they are both tidally locked to each other). AND CONVENTIONS. Pluto is the largest of the five dwarf planets. It has only gone a third around its since discovery in 1930.

A on Pluto is 6.4 Earth days long. Standing on the side facing Charon, the moon would stay in the same position in the sky, unchanging, neither rising nor setting, as the stars and rise and set in the background. Pluto’s orbit around the Sun is tilted and not at all circular. It spends 20 of its 248- orbit closer to the Sun than . Check out this other resource... Observations made with the EWB Zeiss Telescope at http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/ Auckland Observatory in 1988 contributed to the discovery of an at Pluto.

Also see our ‘Introduction to and Ceres’ resource sheet. DISCUSSION POINTS very A Pluto day and What is the are the cargo on board How? Is Pluto special same length. bigger than ‘’? our Moon? STARDOME.ORG.NZ 09 624 1246 ACTIVITY

STARDOME OBSERVATORY & PLANETARIUM SPACE INSPECTION PDF examples The Earth and the Moon are the only places in the visited by humans. Space vehicles have landed on just five other Solar System bodies, i.e. , , the Eros (NEAR Shoemaker) and Itokawa (), and Churyumov- Gerasimenko () – giving us close-up views of their surfaces. All the other objects that have been visited (either a fly-by or in orbit) have P LUTO given us just views from high above. PART ONE: INVESTIGATE The New Horizons fly-by of Pluto was PLUTO – SLIDE A the fastest of any spacecraft, the main • This was the best view of Pluto before the arrival of New Horizons encounter phase lasting less than a day! in July 2015. It is a composite of an of Pluto and Charon plus images of the much fainter outer moons. Scientists have become very good at • The apparent sizes of the moons and Pluto are incorrect interpreting views of planets, moons etc. because of the different exposure times for the different objects from space, without the aid of images or (e.g. Hydra is only 55km vs Pluto 2372km diameter) other data from the surface. • Pluto’s and the of the moons are very tilted ( ~120°), so it looks a bit like a target. PLUTO – SLIDE B Objective... • The last image taken before New Horizons entered the Encounter Phase. This activity aims to encourage detailed • Pluto is tilted towards the viewer, with the below the middle observation of space images, and and the north pole below the top of the picture.

stimulate discussion on interpreting • The large ‘heart’-shaped feature in the middle southern portion attracted a lot of interest. It is very smooth and the left side is what the images contain. brighter and more consistent than the right side. • This is thought to be a plain of ice. • Craters can be seen clearly in the lower left, and less distinctly Instructions... elsewhere on the surface. Using the ‘Space Inspection: Part PLUTO – SLIDE C One’ and ‘Space Inspection: Part Two’ • This is the first photo sent back after the Encounter Phase. presentations your class will learn more Huge ice mountains up to 3.5km high can be seen protruding about Pluto and other astronomical from the surrounding area. objects using just photos. • There is a distinct lack of craters. Part one shows recent New Horizons PLUTO – SLIDE D images of Pluto. Use the information on • This is part of the left side of the ‘heart’ feature. this sheet to talk about the features of • Mountains up to 1.5km high, craters and a sharp contrast Pluto in the images. between light and dark regions are visible. • Tongues of icy material appear to have flowed in this image, In part two you will engage in discussion and filled in some more ancient craters. about the landscapes of other astronomical objects and try to identify PLUTO – SLIDE E locations and features. • The centre of the ‘heart’ region shows polygonal ice segments. • Small hills protrude through some The accompanying PDFs are a starting of the adjoining grooves. point and can be used as is, or printed PLUTO – SLIDE F

out for distribution. The order can be • New Horizons looked back as it changed and the photos skipped or left Pluto to capture this image added to for variety or to change the of a solar ! difficulty as needed for each class. • Although an atmosphere was expected, the haze extends far

higher than anticipated for

for student an object that is smaller than Use the images Earth’s Moon. internet time and see discover what else they can STARDOME.ORG.NZ about these locations. 09 624 1246 ACTIVITY

STARDOME OBSERVATORY & PLANETARIUM INSPECTION SPACE LANDSCAPES PART TWO: ALIEN SPACE IMAGES? WH AT CAN WE LEARN FROM THESE 9. This moon is thought to have a liquidSlightly smaller of 1. This looks like the Moon but it isn’t. It is a beneath its thick ice crust. This is planet . planet: which one? than our Moon, is the sixth largest moon 2. You can see craters and mountains on the in the Solar System. Moon, but in the lefthand image what is the 10. The largest moon in the whole Solar System is winding line called that looks like a dried up ’s largest moon . It is even larger river? These grooves are called ‘’. They than the planets Pluto and Mercury. How much larger Ganymede (5,268km) is about can be a few kilometres wide and hundreds is it than our Moon? of kilometres long. In the smallest image 50% (1.52×) larger than Earth’s Moon (3,474km). you see the Rutherford Crater (named after 11. What is the name of this moon of , Sir Ernest Rutherford), situated on the far which looks like a giant sponge? side of the Moon. is one of the largest Solar System objects that 3. This also looks like the Moon but is another isn’t round (360km). planet. There’s a clue if you look carefully at 12. These radar images reveal the surface of Saturn’s the strange mountain just above and to the largest moon . It is far too cold for liquid water, right of centre. The planet is Mars and the Titan’s frigid so what flows in these rivers and lakes? feature is dubbed the ‘Mars Face’. It is just atmosphere and surface (-180 °C) has rivers, an eroded mesa (flat-topped mountain). lakes and rain. 4. This volcano is on Mars and you could fit the 13. Neptune’s largest moon is named . What is entire North Island of New Zealand on top of erupting from the volcanoes (the mountains with it. What is its name? Olympus Mons. It is the black deposits facing to the right) at the bottom of highest mountain in the Solar System (27km). the picture? Triton’s cryovolcanoes erupt dust and 5. This gigantic valley on Mars could fit across nitrogen gas. the entire United States. What is it called? 14. Which planet are these mountains and glaciers Valleris Marinaris. Earth! found on? 6. What is the name of this Moon, which 15. This alien-looking vista is actually found much closer has these ‘Tiger Stripes’ on its surface? to home. Richat structure in Africa. The full image at This is Saturn’s moon . right reveals Earth’s atmosphere. 7. What material is erupting out of these 16. Water can be seen across this photo of volcanoes into space? These geysers are Solid, on Earth. What are the three forms of water? erupting water ice out into the . liquid and gas: water ice, water in rivers and , 8. This is often called the ‘Pizza Moon’. Which water vapour in the clouds. planet does it orbit, and what are the two This is Auckland 17. Where is this very familiar place? blue lights in the shadow at top right? at night as viewed from the ISS (International This is lo. orbits Jupiter and is the most ). volcanic object in the Solar System. The two volcanic plumes of sulphurous ash and gas 18. Can you find your school

rise over a hundred kilometres. in this photo taken from space?

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