The outer solar system is cold yet majestic. It is forbidding yet inviting. We used to think it ended with the planet Pluto, now Pluto supposedly isn’t a planet anymore. My, how things have changed, not only with our solar system, but the outer solar system in particular.
I guess we can call Pluto a planetoid, which is a fancy name for a small planet, or not quite a planet. Don’t forget about the gas giants, beginning with Jupiter and ending with Neptune. Beyond Mars we have the asteroid belt, which at one time scientists thought was a planet that broke up. Now it is a bunch of rocks which we call asteroids. They orbit between the planet Mars and Jupiter, and are always crashing into each other. These are the demons responsible for maybe one day colliding with Earth! But these are invaluable places where one day soon our astronauts will soon land. They are loaded with rich minerals, and will be a source of fuel for our rockets.
Mankind has launched many probes to visit our outer solar system. All the way back to the Pioneer missions launched in the early 70’s. Do you remember Pioneer 10 and 11? A few years ago we finally lost contact with Pioneer 10. Then there was the Voyager missions. In fact, Voyager is now the furthest man-made object in existence. It is twice the distance from Earth to Pluto, and is heading for interstellar space. Do you want to see one of the most interesting photographs that exist? It was taken by one of our probes, and it is a photo of Earth, from way, way out there. We look just like another little star, completely insignificant! Go to the NASA website, or the Space website, and you’ll find it. It is really mind-blowing to imagine that that is where we live!
The outer solar system is a big place. It’s hard to believe that the gravity of our Sun is strong enough to keep these planets in orbit. Planets such as Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, and Jupiter, and of course Pluto. I know, I know, Pluto is not a planet they say. Yet, I grew up with the notion that it was a planet and somehow it’s tough not to call our beloved Pluto something other than a planet. Then beyond Pluto is the Kuiper belt. This is kind of like the asteroid belt, a bunch of frozen rocks and also the birthplace of our Comets. That’s right, it is a nursery for Comets out there, and every so often one of them comes close enough to Earth where we can see them with the naked eye.
The outer solar system is a wonderful place, and hopefully we will all live long enough to see the exploration, in depth, of this magical, mysterious area…..
