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DEPARTMENT OF ASTRONOMY
Telephone (505) 646-4438
December 13, 1978
(A)
Dr. Richard Berry, Editor
"Astronomy"
411 E. Mason St. 6th Floor
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Dear Dr. Berry:
I read with interest the article "Pluto: Planet or Imposter" by Ian Ridpath.
At the botton of the left column on page 9, Mr. Ridpath states: 'Tombaugh
continued his photographic search around the ecliptic, but no other planets
were found—'. This is certainly the understatement of the year. Considering
the possibility of planets with greater orbital inclination, I searched strips
around the sky paralled to the zodiac, until I had covered 70 percent of the
entire sky, with great care and thoroughness. I sat at the Blink-Microscope-
Comparator for 7,000 hours and saw individually 90 million star images! I
wonder if Mr. Ridpath is aware of the extent of my search? See chapter 2
in volume III "Planets and Satellites" edited by Kuiper and Middlehurst,
published by the University of Chicago Press in 1961. Also, see Sky and
Telescope, vol. XIX, No. 5, March 1960.
The discovery of Pluto's satellite Charon, by Cristy at the U.S. Naval
Observatory at Flagstaff was a most important contribution-giving the first
reliable value for the mass and density of Pluto, which makes it a most
interesting body-suggesting a composition similar to the four giant planets,
and to comets.
It now appears that Pluto's diameter is still more than half the diameter
of the planet Mercury, and much, much larger than the largest asteroid, Ceres.
Pluto's orbital inclination and eccentricity are not too greatly different
from the planet Mercury. Therefore, I fail to see why Pluto should be demoted
from a planet's status as yet. Let us not knock it, the effort, care and cost
to find Pluto were tremendous, as I well know. Believe me, such bodies are
scarce.
Another consideration is the planetary spacing of the mean distance from
the sun on page 11, regarding the 'intruder planet'. If Pluto was torn from
Neptune's system, it seems to me that the 'intruder' was more likely an
Object Description
| Title | Astronomy magazine, 1978 |
| Series | NMSU Astronomy Department, Box 088, Folder 020 |
| Creator | Tombaugh, Clyde William, 1906-1997; Berry, Richard, 1946- |
| Subject | Publications; Tombaugh, Clyde William, 1906-1997; Astronomy--Observations; Discoveries in science; Pluto (Dwarf planet); Charon (Satellite); Reprints (Publications); Tombaugh, Clyde William, 1906-1997; Telescopes |
| Relevant Names | Ridpath, Ian; Sky and telescope; Kuiper, Gerard P. (Gerard Peter), 1905-1973. Planets and satellites; Christy, James W., 1938-; Sedona life (Magazine); Levy, David H., 1948- |
| Digital Publisher | New Mexico State University Library |
| Collection | NMSU Department of Astronomy: Clyde W. Tombaugh Papers |
| Source | Scan produced from physical item held by the NMSU Library Archives & Special Collections Department |
| Type | Text |
| Format | image/tiff |
| Language | eng |
Page Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Series | NMSU Astronomy Department, Box 088, Folder 020 |
| Creator | Tombaugh, Clyde William, 1906-1997 |
| Subject | Publications; Tombaugh, Clyde William, 1906-1997; Astronomy--Observations; Discoveries in science; Pluto (Dwarf planet); Charon (Satellite) |
| Relevant Names | Ridpath, Ian; Sky and telescopeKuiper, Gerard P. (Gerard Peter), 1905-1973. Planets and satellites; Christy, James W., 1938- |
| Date Original | 1978-12-13 |
| Digital Publisher | New Mexico State University Library |
| Collection | NMSU Department of Astronomy: Clyde W. Tombaugh Papers |
| Digital Identifier | Ms0407pp088020_0010001.tif |
| Source | Scan produced from physical item held by the NMSU Library Archives & Special Collections Department |
| Type | Text |
| Format | image/tiff |
| Language | eng |
| OCR | DEPARTMENT OF ASTRONOMY Telephone (505) 646-4438 December 13, 1978 (A) Dr. Richard Berry, Editor "Astronomy" 411 E. Mason St. 6th Floor Milwaukee, WI 53202 Dear Dr. Berry: I read with interest the article "Pluto: Planet or Imposter" by Ian Ridpath. At the botton of the left column on page 9, Mr. Ridpath states: 'Tombaugh continued his photographic search around the ecliptic, but no other planets were found—'. This is certainly the understatement of the year. Considering the possibility of planets with greater orbital inclination, I searched strips around the sky paralled to the zodiac, until I had covered 70 percent of the entire sky, with great care and thoroughness. I sat at the Blink-Microscope- Comparator for 7,000 hours and saw individually 90 million star images! I wonder if Mr. Ridpath is aware of the extent of my search? See chapter 2 in volume III "Planets and Satellites" edited by Kuiper and Middlehurst, published by the University of Chicago Press in 1961. Also, see Sky and Telescope, vol. XIX, No. 5, March 1960. The discovery of Pluto's satellite Charon, by Cristy at the U.S. Naval Observatory at Flagstaff was a most important contribution-giving the first reliable value for the mass and density of Pluto, which makes it a most interesting body-suggesting a composition similar to the four giant planets, and to comets. It now appears that Pluto's diameter is still more than half the diameter of the planet Mercury, and much, much larger than the largest asteroid, Ceres. Pluto's orbital inclination and eccentricity are not too greatly different from the planet Mercury. Therefore, I fail to see why Pluto should be demoted from a planet's status as yet. Let us not knock it, the effort, care and cost to find Pluto were tremendous, as I well know. Believe me, such bodies are scarce. Another consideration is the planetary spacing of the mean distance from the sun on page 11, regarding the 'intruder planet'. If Pluto was torn from Neptune's system, it seems to me that the 'intruder' was more likely an |
