Discovery of Pluto
Descubrimiento de Plutón
- Date
- 1930 · confidence high
- Place
- Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States
- Credited to
- Clyde Tombaugh
- People
- 👤 Clyde Tombaugh1906–1997
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Tombaugh found Pluto by comparing plates with a blink comparator, in the search for Lowell's 'Planet X'. It was the ninth planet until its reclassification as a dwarf planet in 2006.
The predicted Planet X did not exist; the discovery was accidental.
What it led to
- Kuiper belt
- IAU definition of a planet (2006)
- New Horizons mission
Built on
Made possible
- Discovery of Charon1978
- Kuiper belt (1992 QB1)1992
- Discovery of Quaoar2002
- Discovery of (90482) Orcus2004
- Eris and the dwarf planet definition2005
- Nix (moon of Pluto)2005
- Discovery of Makemake2005
- Hydra (moon of Pluto)2005
- Discovery of Styx, moon of Pluto2012
- New Horizons: first flyby of Pluto14 de julio de 2015
- Blink comparator surveys