Science Pluto is Something Way More Awesome Than a Mere Planet

[Cashcleaner]

Stop hoping that Pluto will regain its former designation as a planet. It isn’t going to happen. But the good news is, Pluto is something much cooler than a mere planet. It’s the largest dwarf planet we know, and one half of the first binary planet system. Pluto didn’t get demoted, it got promoted.

We’re all feeling the Pluto-love, with all the new data flowing in from the New Horizons probe. I keep getting asked, “When will we get the ‘Pluto is a planet again!’ article? Or is it silly and nostalgic to hope?” That article isn’t coming—but instead of sorrow over Pluto losing its old title, I’m celebrating all the awesome titles getting piled on to this little world after its reclassification.

Story continues here: io9.com

 

[Indigo]

Do you think if Pluto had had life on it at one time, that the life would have been dwarfed as well?

 

[Cashcleaner]

You mean along the lines of island dwarfism that we see on Earth? I never really thought of that, to be honest. I suppose that could be the case.

If Pluto did support life at one point it would have most likely been during the earlier stages of the solar system's development when the planetoid was still forming and warm enough to accommodate biological chemistry. There would likely be only a very short window of time where it existed though, as a relatively small body in space, Pluto would cool down very quickly. So life would have only the briefest of time to develop.

Of course, that's even if Pluto formed in a similar manner to how we think the larger planets did. I'd certainly be surprised if we found traces of ancient life on Pluto's surface, but as I remarked in a previous thread, if we start finding traces of it scattered in other areas throughout the solar system like the Jovians moons, I guess we can't rule out anything.

 

[Indigo]

Island dwarfism exactly what I meant!

There's life floating around all over, I think that's how we might have gotten here..amoeba arriving in the deep recess of an asteroid falling into the broth of what would become the primordial soup.

 

[Cashcleaner]

^ There's certainly a lot of theories which contend simple lifeforms may have hitched a ride on an asteroid and came to Earth that way, or possibly provided some sort of catalyst for the formation of life here.