Pluto and Charon…have a heart, love a planet! Pluto I’m a dwarf with a heart! I was discovered in 1930 by the astronomer Clyde Tombaugh as the ninth planet from the Sun, but I was reclassified as a “dwarf planet” in 2006. In 2015, NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft sent back lots of scientific data and beautiful photos of me, some which show a giant heart-shaped area on my face, but you wouldn’t want to try to live on me. I’m mostly made of rock and ice, I'm very cold, and my atmosphere is mostly nitrogen, with some methane and carbon monoxide. Plus, I am so far from the Sun that even daylight here is fainter than twilight on Earth. Charon I was discovered in 1978 and am the largest of Pluto’s five moons, but I’m more than just an ordinary satellite. I’m more than half as big as Pluto, and because Pluto and I actually revolve around each other, we are sometimes called a “double planet.” Scientists have nicknamed my dark cap “Mordor” after a part of “Middle Earth” in Tolkien’s book, The Lord of The Rings. My orbit is “synchronous” with my rotation, so the same side of me always faces Pluto, just like the same side of your Moon always faces Earth. My little brother and sister moons are named Styx, Nyx, Kerberos and Hydra. Features:Height of toy seated is approximately 5" (Pluto) and 4" (Charon)All New MaterialsContent: Polyester FiberConforms to all EU and US Consumer Product Safety Commission Toy RegulationsHand Made in ChinaRated "0+" . . . Appropriate for children of all agesThe two characters interact with each other by a magnet inserted inside a safety pouch between the shell and stuffingCare. Spot clean with mild detergent and cold water, but toy may be machine washed in cold water, gentle cycle, if needed. Best to dry at low or no heat in a pillowcase or similar to reduce risk of scratching "eyes." Did you know... Pluto was discovered at Lowell Observatory by Clyde Tombaugh on February 18th, 1930. The dwarf planet was named shortly afterwards by Venetia Burney in March of 1930, who was just 11 years old at the time. She thought the name Pluto fit perfectly, as Pluto is the Roman god of the underworld capable of making himself invisible just as the dwarf planet is cold, far from the Sun, and very difficult to see. We saw Pluto's surface for the first time in 2015, when NASA's New Horizon's spacecraft flew past the planet!Charon, Pluto's largest satellite (or moon) was discovered by United States Naval Observatory astronomer James Christy, using the 1.55-meter telescope at the Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station in 1978. Christy named the satellite Charon, the ferryman that carried souls to the underworld in Greek mythology, but admits that it was just a clever way to name to moon after his beloved wife Char (or Charlene) and still fit the mythology theme.Source: https://www.lowell.edu/
