A briefing by mission control for the New Horizons mission held on the morning of Monday, July 13th at the John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory has stated that they are now much more confident of the diameter of Pluto. On the now dwarf planet that was stripped of its planet-hood in 2006, they are saying its size is larger than what was once thought.
Pluto’s Real Measurements
New pictures taken by NuSTAR reveal that Pluto is bigger and now measures around 1,473 miles (~ 2,370 km) in diameter with a margin error of 12.4 miles (20 km). Its previous measurements were around 1,472 miles (~ 2,368 km) in diameter with the same error accounted for. Because the margin of error is the same for both of the measurements, because the most recent one is bigger, it is a confirmation that the “dwarf planet” is bigger than what was originally calculated. Though the previous measurements were off by only about one mile (~1.61 km), the mass has stayed the same, meaning that the known density of Pluto changes dramatically.
What This Changes
As of right now, the density of Pluto changes, therefore changing the previous assumptions to permit for that loss. This means that much of the information that scientists “know” about the planet must change because it is bigger than previous estimates. One possibility that Alan Stern, the principal investigator on the matter, proposes is that there is more ice and less rock on the planet than what was assumed.
The Current Confirmations of New Horizons
At this time, with the new measurement of Pluto, the dwarf planet is confirmed to be the largest object in the Kuiper Belt, the ring of space debris at the outer edges of our solar system. Just because Pluto is bigger than any other known object in the Kuiper Belt does not mean that it’s the most massive or ‘heaviest’. That title goes to Eris, which was in fact another dwarf planet that helped strip Pluto of its status as a full-fledged planet.
Because this is man’s vicarious foray into “the final frontier”, there is no telling what could be found. Other larger objects may be found, thus taking the titles from both Pluto as well as Eris. Every new discovery that humanity makes–especially concerning space–leads it towards the future and a more definite understanding of the earth and other worlds alike.
