Thoughts from Celestial Buddies on Pluto and its moon Charon....

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.

Features

• Height of toy seated is approximately 5" (Pluto) and 4" (Charon)

·         All New Materials

·         Content: Polyester Fiber

·         Conforms to all US Consumer Product Safety Commission Toy Regulations

·         Appropriate for children 0+

·         Care. 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 pillow case or similar to reduce risk of scratching "eyes."

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