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Pluto Demoted Day is observed on August 24 of every year. The commemoration of the day began when Pluto’s status was demoted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) from a full-sized planet to a dwarf planet. Pluto Demoted Day is memorialized to remember the discovery of this dwarf planet.
“When I was a little kid, we only knew about our nine planets. Since then, we’ve downgraded Pluto but have discovered that other solar systems and stars are common. So life is probably quite prevalent.” – Buzz Aldrin
History of Pluto Demoted Day
The Pluto Demoted Day was first observed on August 23, 2006. The observance of the day marks this discovery made by the scientists. It is indeed an important day to remember and is a significant day for scientific history. Clyde Tombaugh first discovered Pluto in the year 1930 at Lowell Observatory. It was initially recognized to be the ninth planet from the Sun for 76 years. The name Pluto, after the god of the underworld, was proposed by an eleven-year-old schoolgirl in Oxford, England, named Venetia Burney who was interested in classical mythology. Pluto’s orbit around the Sun is not perfectly circular or highly eccentric. It means that the distance between Pluto and the Sun varies over time and Pluto takes about 250 Earth years to revolve around the Sun for one time, and about 6.5 Earth days to make a full rotation around its axis. Pluto’s average distance from Earth is about 6 billion kilometers (4 billion miles), In size, Pluto’s diameter is about 2250 kilometers (1400 miles), which is nearly two-thirds the size of Earth’s Moon. After 1992, its rank as a planet was doubted following the discovery of various other objects of similar size in the Kuiper belt. As per the International Astronomical Union (IAU) definition, any planet is a celestial body which when orbits around the Sun has an approximately circular shape and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. But Pluto does not meet the third criteria to be a full-sized planet and IAU had reclassified it as a dwarf planet. Pluto is not the dominant object on its orbit around the Sun whereas around its neighborhood region even other bodies can be found. Pluto has five known moons namely Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra. It is the first Kuiper belt object to be discovered and is the largest and second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the whole Solar System. Of course, it is important to remember this day in world history as it marks the introduction of a dwarf planet.
Other Celebrations on August 24
August 24 is also celebrated as
- International Strange Music Day
- Vesuvius Day
- National Peach Pie Day
- National Knife Day
- Internaut Day
How to Celebrate Pluto Demoted Day
There are many best ways with which one could celebrate Pluto Demoted Day. You can read articles about the 76-year-old planet Pluto and dwarf planet Pluto from various sources like books, or the internet. You can even visit the local planetarium with your children to let them know about the Solar System, planets, and dwarf planets. It is the very best day to make your child learn about the nature of Pluto, its history, and its current state. Post your Pluto Demoted Day celebrations on social media using the hashtag #PlutoDemotedDay.
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