More than 75 years after its discovery, many facts about Pluto remain unknown, mainly due to the fact that it is the only planet that has not been visited by human spacecraft and that it is too far away for in-depth investigations with telescopes from earth. What is known are the few physical properties listed below. Pluto - Mass and size. Pluto is not only smaller and much less massive than every other planet, but at less than 0.2 lunar masses it is also smaller and less massive than seven moons: Ganymede ...

See also:

Pluto, Pluto - Discovery and naming, Pluto - Orbit, Pluto - Physical characteristics, Pluto - Mass and size, Pluto - Atmosphere, Pluto - Appearance, Pluto - Pluto's moons, Pluto - Charon, Pluto - The outer moons, Pluto - Exploration of Pluto, Pluto - The Pluto debate, Pluto - Planet X?, Pluto - Minor planet?, Pluto - New discoveries, Pluto - Pluto in popular culture

Read more here: » Pluto: Encyclopedia II - Pluto - Physical characteristics

See also:

Pluto, Pluto - Discovery and naming, Pluto - Orbit, Pluto - Physical characteristics, Pluto - Mass and size, Pluto - Atmosphere, Pluto - Appearance, Pluto - Pluto's moons, Pluto - Charon, Pluto - The outer moons, Pluto - Exploration of Pluto, Pluto - The Pluto debate, Pluto - Planet X?, Pluto - Minor planet?, Pluto - New discoveries, Pluto - Pluto in popular culture

Read more here: » Pluto: Encyclopedia II - Pluto - Pluto's moons

Little is known about Pluto because of its great distance from Earth and because no exploratory spacecraft have visited Pluto yet. The Voyager 1 probe was originally intended to visit Pluto, but due to budget cuts and lack of interest — before the discovery of Pluto's moon, size, and atmosphere — the flyby was scrapped in order to facilitate a close flyby of Saturn's moon Titan. The first spacecraft to visit Pluto will be NASA's New Horizons, a mission led by the Southwest Research Institute and ...

See also:

Pluto, Pluto - Discovery and naming, Pluto - Orbit, Pluto - Physical characteristics, Pluto - Mass and size, Pluto - Atmosphere, Pluto - Appearance, Pluto - Pluto's moons, Pluto - Charon, Pluto - The outer moons, Pluto - Exploration of Pluto, Pluto - The Pluto debate, Pluto - Planet X?, Pluto - Minor planet?, Pluto - New discoveries, Pluto - Pluto in popular culture

Read more here: » Pluto: Encyclopedia II - Pluto - Exploration of Pluto

Pluto is the ninth planet in the solar system. Discovered in 1930 and immediately classified as a planet, its status is currently under dispute. Pluto has an eccentric orbit that is highly inclined in respect to the other planets and takes it inside the orbit of Neptune. Its largest moon is Charon, discovered in 1978; two smaller moons were discovered in 2005. Pluto's astronomical symbol is a P-L monogram, ♇. This represents both the first two letters of the name Pluto and the initials of Percival Lowell ...

Including:

Pluto - Discovery and naming Pluto - Orbit Pluto - Physical characteristics
Pluto - Mass and size Pluto - Atmosphere Pluto - Appearance
Pluto - Pluto's moons
Pluto - Charon Pluto - The outer moons
Pluto - Exploration of Pluto Pluto - The Pluto debate
Pluto - Planet X? Pluto - Minor planet? Pluto - New discoveries
Pluto - Pluto in popular culture

Read more here: » Pluto: Encyclopedia - Pluto

Pluto is the ninth planet in the solar system. Discovered in 1930 and immediately classified as a planet, its status is currently under dispute. Pluto has an eccentric orbit that is highly inclined in respect to the other planets and takes it inside the orbit of Neptune. Its largest moon is Charon, discovered in 1978; two smaller moons were discovered in 2005. Pluto's astronomical symbol is a P-L monogram, ♇. This represents both the first two letters of the name Pluto and the initials of Percival Lowell ...

Including:

Pluto - Discovery and naming Pluto - Orbit Pluto - Physical characteristics
Pluto - Atmosphere Pluto - Appearance
Pluto - Pluto's moons
Pluto - Charon Pluto - The outer moons
Pluto - Exploration of Pluto Pluto - The Pluto debate
Pluto - Planet X? Pluto - Minor planet? Pluto - New discoveries
Pluto - Pluto in popular culture

Read more here: » Pluto: Encyclopedia - Pluto

90377 Sedna is a trans-Neptunian object, discovered by Michael Brown (Caltech), Chad Trujillo (Gemini Observatory) and David Rabinowitz (Yale University) on November 14, 2003. Its discovery was the farthest distance at which any natural object in the solar system has ever been observed. Sedna is described as a cold planetoid, perhaps as large as two-thirds the size of Pluto. 90377 Sedna - General information. Sedna was discovered during a survey conducted with the Samuel Oschin telescope at Palomar Observat ...

Including:

90377 Sedna - General information 90377 Sedna - Orbital characteristics 90377 Sedna - Physical characteristics 90377 Sedna - Classification

Read more here: » 90377 Sedna: Encyclopedia - 90377 Sedna

Click image for description Neptune is the eighth or, occasionally, the ninth planet from the Sun due to Pluto's eccentric orbit (if Pluto counts as a planet), and the outermost gas giant in our solar system. Although the smallest of the gas giants, Neptune is more massive than Uranus: Its stronger gravitational field has compressed it to a higher density. Faint dark rings have been detected around the blue planet, but are less substantial than those of Saturn. When these ...

Including:

Neptune - Discovery Neptune - Naming Neptune - Physical characteristics Neptune - Planetary rings Neptune - Natural satellites and Trojan asteroids Neptune - Appearance and visibility from Earth Neptune - Occultation of stars by Neptune between 1800 and 2100 Neptune - Neptune in fiction and film Neptune - Notes

Read more here: » Neptune: Encyclopedia - Neptune

Sedna has an estimated diameter of between 1180 and 1800 kilometres (730 to 1120 miles). At the time of its discovery it was the largest object found in the solar system since Pluto was discovered in 1930. It is now generally believed to be the 5th largest known trans-Neptunian object after 2003 UB313, Pluto, 2005 FY9, and 2003 EL61. The planetoid is so far from the Sun that the temperatur ...

See also:

90377 Sedna, 90377 Sedna - General information, 90377 Sedna - Orbital characteristics, 90377 Sedna - Physical characteristics, 90377 Sedna - Classification

Read more here: » 90377 Sedna: Encyclopedia II - 90377 Sedna - Physical characteristics

Sedna has an estimated diameter of between 1180 and 1800 kilometres (730 to 1120 miles). At the time of its discovery it was the largest object found in the solar system since Pluto was discovered in 1930. It is now generally believed to be the 4th largest known trans-Neptunian object after 2003 UB313, Pluto, and 2005 FY9. The planetoid is so far from the Sun that the temperatur ...

See also:

90377 Sedna, 90377 Sedna - General information, 90377 Sedna - Orbital characteristics, 90377 Sedna - Physical characteristics, 90377 Sedna - Classification

Read more here: » 90377 Sedna: Encyclopedia II - 90377 Sedna - Physical characteristics

Sedna was discovered during a survey conducted with the Samuel Oschin telescope at Palomar Observatory near San Diego, California (USA) and was observed within days on telescopes from Chile, Spain, and the USA (Arizona, and Hawaii). NASA's orbiting Spitzer Space Telescope was also pointed toward the object, but could not detect it — putting an upper-bound on its diameter at roughly three-quarters that of Pluto. Because of its cold, distant nature, and because all other planets of the Solar system are named after (Roman and Greek) go ...

See also:

90377 Sedna, 90377 Sedna - General information, 90377 Sedna - Orbital characteristics, 90377 Sedna - Physical characteristics, 90377 Sedna - Classification

Read more here: » 90377 Sedna: Encyclopedia II - 90377 Sedna - General information

Sedna has a highly elliptical orbit, with its aphelion estimated at 942 AU and its perihelion at about 76.1 AU. At its discovery it was approaching perihelion at about 90 AU from the Sun. It was the farthest from the Sun that any solar system object had up to then been observed, although some objects like long-period comets originally observed at closer distances were most likely further from the Sun than Sedna but too dim to be observed. 2003 UB313 was later detected at 97 AU. Sedna's orbit takes about ...

See also:

90377 Sedna, 90377 Sedna - General information, 90377 Sedna - Orbital characteristics, 90377 Sedna - Physical characteristics, 90377 Sedna - Classification

Read more here: » 90377 Sedna: Encyclopedia II - 90377 Sedna - Orbital characteristics

The discoverers have argued that Sedna is actually the first observed body belonging to the Oort cloud, saying that it is too far out to be considered a Kuiper belt object. Because it is a great deal closer to the Sun than was expected for an Oort cloud object, and has an inclination roughly in line with the planets and the Kuiper belt, they describe the planetoid as being an inner Oort cloud object, situated in the disc reaching from the K ...

See also:

90377 Sedna, 90377 Sedna - General information, 90377 Sedna - Orbital characteristics, 90377 Sedna - Physical characteristics, 90377 Sedna - Classification

Read more here: » 90377 Sedna: Encyclopedia II - 90377 Sedna - Classification

Sedna has a highly elliptical orbit, with its aphelion estimated at 975 AU and its perihelion at about 76.16 AU. At its discovery it was approaching perihelion at about 90 AU from the Sun. It was the farthest from the Sun that any solar system object had up to then been observed, although some objects like long-period comets originally observed at closer distances were most likely further from the Sun than Sedna but too dim to be observed. 2003 UB313 was later detected at 97 AU. Sedna's orbit takes about ...

See also:

90377 Sedna, 90377 Sedna - General information, 90377 Sedna - Orbital characteristics, 90377 Sedna - Physical characteristics, 90377 Sedna - Classification

Read more here: » 90377 Sedna: Encyclopedia II - 90377 Sedna - Orbital characteristics

Plasmas are the most common phase of matter. The entire visible universe outside the solar system is plasma: all we can see are stars. Since the space between the stars is filled with a plasma, although a very sparse one (see interstellar- and intergalactic medium), essentially the entire volume of the universe is plasma (see astrophysical plasmas). In the solar system, the planet Jupiter accounts for most of the non-plasma, only about 0.1% of the mass and 10−15 of the volume within the orbit of Pluto. Alfvén also noted that due to their electric charge, very small grains also behave as io ...

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Plasma physics, Plasma physics - Common plasmas, Plasma physics - Characteristics, Plasma physics - Plasma scaling, Plasma physics - Temperatures, Plasma physics - Densities, Plasma physics - Potentials, Plasma physics - In contrast to the gas phase, Plasma physics - Complex plasma phenomena, Plasma physics - Ultracold plasmas, Plasma physics - Mathematical descriptions, Plasma physics - Fluid, Plasma physics - Kinetic, Plasma physics - Particle-in-cell, Plasma physics - Fundamental plasma parameters, Plasma physics - Frequencies, Plasma physics - Lengths, Plasma physics - Velocities, Plasma physics - Dimensionless, Plasma physics - Miscellaneous, Plasma physics - Fields of active research

Read more here: » Plasma physics: Encyclopedia II - Plasma physics - Common plasmas

Triton has a similar size, density, and chemical composition to that of Pluto, and upon verifying the eccentric orbit of Pluto that crosses the orbit of Neptune, we can track the origin of Triton as a similar planet and was captured by Neptune. Therefore, Triton could have been formed far from Neptune in the frozen dark far reaches of the solar system. Even though there are various differences between Triton and other frozen moons of the solar system, the terrain is similar to Ariel (moon of Uranus), Enceladus (moon of Saturn). and three moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa, and Ganymede ...

See also:

Triton moon, Triton moon - Name, Triton moon - Orbit, Triton moon - Physical characteristics, Triton moon - Seasons, Triton moon - Planetary geology, Triton moon - General Topography, Triton moon - “Cantaloupe terrain”, Triton moon - History of observation and exploration, Triton moon - Potential for life

Read more here: » Triton moon: Encyclopedia II - Triton moon - Planetary geology

Ceres is the largest known asteroid in the asteroid belt, which mostly lies between Mars and Jupiter. However the Kuiper belt is known to contain larger objects, including Pluto, 50000 Quaoar, 90482 Orcus, the recently discovered 2003 UB313, and possibly 90377 Sedna. At certain points in its orbit, Ceres can reach a magnitude of 7.0. This is generally regarded as being just barely too dim to be seen with the naked eye, but under exceptional viewing conditions a very sharp-sighted person may be able to see the asteroid with the naked eye. The only other aste ...

See also:

1 Ceres, 1 Ceres - Name, 1 Ceres - Discovery, 1 Ceres - Physical characteristics, 1 Ceres - Observations, 1 Ceres - Trivia, 1 Ceres - Aspects, 1 Ceres - External link

Read more here: » 1 Ceres: Encyclopedia II - 1 Ceres - Physical characteristics

Earth Besides being our terrestrial globe, earth is a comprehensive symbol, meaning the matter or vehicular side of manifestation as well as one of the four, five, or seven elements.

It is primordial undifferentiated matter which, by the action of spirit, produces the manifested worlds of entities. The Western alchemists called this Adam's Earth; in Greek mythology it is the lower side of Rhea. The bringing forth of animate beings was due to the marriage of heaven and earth, so that our earth is an offspring of this cosmic union. Connected with this meaning are the numerous allusions to earth as the nether pole of manifestation, and it is often synonymous with the nether regions, as Pluto, Yama, etc.

In the zodiac it is occasionally symbolized by Taurus, the bull which in popular astrology is the first and fixed earthy sign. As the lowest of the several elements, earth denotes physicalization, what we call physical matter being a combination of all four elements with the earth-element predominating. The pure element, however, is not physical, its characteristic property or tattva in connection with the human organs is smell, and its name in the Hindu system is prithivi-tattva; it is characterized by square or cubical forms and by fixity; the nature spirits pertaining to it were said by medieval European mystics to be the gnomes.

Our own earth is one of a system of planetary chains belonging to the solar system. The earth planetary chain consists of a coadunation or chain of seven or twelve globes, though the name earth is usually applied to the grossest globe, which alone is in direct rapport with our physical senses. The earth actually is an animate being, as are all the celestial globes.

(See also: Earth, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Pluto - Planet X?. The planet Pluto was originally discovered in 1930 in the course of a search for a body sufficiently massive to account for supposed anomalies in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune . Once it was found, its faintness and failure to show a visible disc cast doubt on the idea that it could be Lowell's Planet X. Lowell had made a prediction of Pluto's position in 1915 which had turned out to be fairly close to its actual position at that time; however Ernest W. Brown concluded almost immediately that ...

See also:

Pluto, Pluto - Discovery and naming, Pluto - Orbit, Pluto - Physical characteristics, Pluto - Mass and size, Pluto - Atmosphere, Pluto - Appearance, Pluto - Pluto's moons, Pluto - Charon, Pluto - The outer moons, Pluto - Exploration of Pluto, Pluto - The Pluto debate, Pluto - Planet X?, Pluto - Minor planet?, Pluto - New discoveries, Pluto - Pluto in popular culture

Read more here: » Pluto: Encyclopedia II - Pluto - The Pluto debate

Pluto - Planet X?. Main article: Planet X The planet Pluto was originally discovered in 1930 in the course of a search for a body sufficiently massive to account for supposed anomalies in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune . Once it was found, its faintness and failure to show a visible disc cast doubt on the idea that it could be Lowell's Planet X. Lowell had made a prediction of Pluto's position in 1915 which had turned out to be fairly close to its actual position at that time; however ...

See also:

Pluto, Pluto - Discovery and naming, Pluto - Orbit, Pluto - Physical characteristics, Pluto - Mass and size, Pluto - Atmosphere, Pluto - Appearance, Pluto - Pluto's moons, Pluto - Charon, Pluto - The outer moons, Pluto - Exploration of Pluto, Pluto - The Pluto debate, Pluto - Planet X?, Pluto - Minor planet?, Pluto - New discoveries, Pluto - Pluto in popular culture

Read more here: » Pluto: Encyclopedia II - Pluto - The Pluto debate

Pluto's orbit is unlike those of the other planets. It is highly inclined above the plane of the ecliptic, and highly eccentric (non-circular). The eccentricity of its orbit is such that it crosses the orbit of Neptune, and making Pluto only the eighth-most distant planet from the Sun for part of each orbit; the most recent occurrence of this phenomenon lasted from February 7, 1979 through February 11, 1999. Mathematical calculations indicate that the previous occurrence only lasted fourteen years from July 11, 1735 to September 15, 1749. Ho ...

See also:

Pluto, Pluto - Discovery and naming, Pluto - Orbit, Pluto - Physical characteristics, Pluto - Mass and size, Pluto - Atmosphere, Pluto - Appearance, Pluto - Pluto's moons, Pluto - Charon, Pluto - The outer moons, Pluto - Exploration of Pluto, Pluto - The Pluto debate, Pluto - Planet X?, Pluto - Minor planet?, Pluto - New discoveries, Pluto - Pluto in popular culture

Read more here: » Pluto: Encyclopedia II - Pluto - Orbit