Pluto, and her role in Astrology.

Second of eight . . .

Lessons from our Solar System

After 76 glorious years, the small ball of rock and ice known as Pluto was relegated to the solar system backwaters in 2006 when astronomers dropped it from the list of planets. Instead, it's simply the most famous member of the Kuiper Belt, a broad doughnut-shaped ring of objects that extends outward from just inside the orbit of Neptune, the most distant planet.

Because it is so far from the Sun, astronomers had a hard time measuring Pluto's size. Astronomers finally got it right in the 1980s, by watching Pluto and it’s companion, Charon, eclipse each other, they measured Pluto's diameter at about 1,400 miles -- about one-third less than the Earth's Moon.

Pluto is basically a ball of frozen nitrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide wrapped around a small core of rock. On average, it's farther from the Sun than any other planet, so its surface is bitterly cold.

When it passes closest to the Sun, as it did in 1989, some of its surface ice vaporizes, giving Pluto a thin, cold atmosphere of nitrogen and methane. As the planet retreats from the Sun, though, the atmosphere should freeze and fall to the surface as fresh ice.

The atmosphere vaporizes and refreezes because Pluto follows a highly elliptical orbit, so its distance from the Sun varies by almost two billion miles. That odd orbit led to a lively discussion about Pluto's origin and even its classification. Its orbital path lies within the Kuiper Belt, a region that encircles the realm of the planets. The belt may contain millions of balls of rock and ice that are similar to Pluto, including many that are almost as big -- and a few that may be even bigger.

Astronomers have detected frozen water on the surface of Charon, which is different from the composition of Pluto. That suggests that Charon formed from the debris from a collision between Pluto and another large body, which may be the same process that gave birth to Earth's moon.

Pluto and her role in Astrology.

As the outermost “dwarf planet” in our solar system, Pluto is farthest from the Sun. It has only recently been discovered, having come to light(!) in 1930.

Pluto's energy may be subtle, but its results will hit you like a ton of bricks. Pluto is about transformation, regeneration and rebirth. She says 'out with the old and in with the new,' and we'd better be ready for it. If we're not, Pluto will simply have us wallow in our misery. Pluto asks us to transcend that which we know - and come out stronger as a result.

For all that Pluto (re)creates (it also governs the reproductive system), it loves to destroy. She rules destruction, death, disease and waste. That's definitely not pretty. Pluto also governs crime and the underworld and is about all that is secret and undercover. Is this the story of good vs. evil? Yes.

No one will deny Pluto's power and intensity. It’s energy is often focused on the masses. Pluto beseeches the masses to look inward. It may be scary, but she doesn't care. Pluto knows how to push buttons.

It takes Pluto approximately 248 years to complete its orbit around the Zodiac. Due to the eccentricity of its orbit, it takes this Dwarf Planet between 12 and 31 years to pass through a Sign.

This article was created on Tuesday, 22nd April 2008. It was last tinkered with on Tuesday, 17th March 2009.

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