The Times of India on MSN: Pluto to become 9th planet again? NASA chief says 'looking into it', replies to 10-yr-old's letter Pluto to become 9th planet again? NASA chief says 'looking into it', replies to 10-yr-old's letter Pluto was once our solar system's ninth planet, but has been reclassified as a dwarf planet.

Understanding the Context

It's located in the Kuiper Belt. This means Jupiter spins nearly upright so that the planet, as well as Europa and Jupiter’s other moons, do not have seasons like Earth. Jupiter’s moons Io, Europa, and Ganymede are in what is called a resonance – every time Ganymede orbits Jupiter once, Europa orbits twice, and Io orbits four times. Pluto is by far the most famous dwarf planet.

Key Insights

Discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930, Pluto was long considered our solar system's ninth planet. But after other astronomers found similar intriguing worlds deeper in the distant Kuiper Belt – the IAU reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet in 2006. An image showing signs supporting dwarf planets. The discovery, along with his discovery of three other large moons around Jupiter, was the first time a moon was discovered orbiting a planet other than Earth. The discovery eventually led to the understanding that planets in our solar system orbit the Sun, instead of our solar system revolving around Earth.

Final Thoughts

GALILEO TO TASTE JUPITER BEFORE TAKING FINAL PLUNGE In the end, the Galileo spacecraft will get a taste of Jupiter before taking a final plunge into the planet's crushing atmosphere, ending the mission on Sunday, Sept. 21. The team expects the spacecraft to transmit a few hours of science data in real time lead-ing up to impact. Yahoo: Is There Actually A Ninth Planet In Our Solar System? Here's What We Know