Who can forget that fateful day in 2006 when Pluto was downgraded from a planet to dwarf planet?
For those of us who've long loved Pluto no matter what its technical classification, today is an awesome day, and I mean awesome in the truest sense of the word. Today, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft passed by Pluto—the closest humankind has ever come to the planet, which is a mere 3 billion miles away. Scholastic News covered the exciting journey a few months ago.
(Fun fact: even though the probe, which took off from Earth nine years ago, was meant to sail past Pluto around 7:49am ET, we won't know until 9pm ET whether it actually happened!)
To celebrate, let's all read about Pluto! Check out these great books for kids:
- Pluto Visits Earth! by Steve Metzger
- Pluto by Christine Taylor-Butler
- Pluto: From Planet to Dwarf by Christine Landau
- The Magic School Bus: Space Explorers by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen
Don't forget to check out these gorgeous photos of Pluto, courtesy of NASA, too.
