Starship Asterisk*

MargaritaMc wrote:Does Pluto's orbit really go inside, not only the orbit of Neptune, but also of Uranus? That is what this image seems to show. I knew about Neptune, of course, but skimming the orbit of Uranus is new to me.

Pluto's orbit is tilted quite a bit with respect to the other planets. So I think what we see in that picture, which is a perspective view, is that the portion of Pluto's orbit which is below the plane of the other orbits just happens to look as if it passes inside of the orbit of Uranus. But if you imagine yourself moving up to a position directly above the solar system, you'd see that Pluto's orbit does not cross Uranus' orbit.

Rob

Thank you, Rob. I was almost 100% sure that Pluto didn't go inside the orbit of Uranus - but this image made me doubt my understanding! Of course - the tilt of Pluto's orbit explains it.

Margarita

And I just checked an online source...

Pluto's perihelion (minimum distance from the Sun) = 29.7 AU
Uranus' aphelion (maximum distance from the Sun) = 20.07 AU

(1 AU or Astronomical Unit is the average distance of the Earth from the Sun, about 149,600,000 km.)

Rob

It's amazing that we receive information from afar.
Wahuuuuuu 149.6 million kilometers!