No, not that one.

No, not that one either.

That one!

While I’m delayed at the Washington Dulles International airport, I thought I’d indulge my inner cosmos child and check out some more Pluto-related facts. Ready? Here we go…

• From the time of its discovery in 1930 until it was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006, Pluto had completed less than one-third of its orbit around the sun.
• Pluto was named after the Greek god of the underworld (AKA Hades) by an eleven year old schoolgirl in Oxford, England.
• Pluto’s surface is composed of one-third water (ice) and two-thirds rock. The water ice on Pluto is three times as much water as all of Earth’s oceans.
• Pluto has 66% of the diameter of the Earth’s moon and 18% of its mass.
• Pluto and Hades differ in character, but they are not distinct figures and share their two major myths. In Greek cosmogony, the god received the rule of the underworld in a three-way division of sovereignty over the world, with his brothers Zeus ruling the Sky and Poseidon the Sea.
• Pluto’s birthday is September 5, 1930. Pluto’s original name was Rover in The Picnic, and in 1931, Pluto’s real name is given in The Moose Hunt.

(Sorry, had to slip in a few other Pluto facts since I snagged images.)

(Thanks to stargazer Tiffany for the fun video.)

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