Discovering Pluto: Exploration at the Edge of the Solar System

by Dale P. Cruikshank, William Sheehan

Discovering Pluto is an authoritative account of the exploration of Pluto and its moons, from the first inklings of tentative knowledge through the exciting discoveries made during the flyby of the NASA New Horizons research spacecraft in July 2015. Co-author Dale P. Cruikshank was a co-investigator on the New Horizons mission, while co-author William Sheehan is a noted historian of the Solar System.

Telling the tale of Pluto’s discovery, the authors recount the grand story of our unfolding knowledge of the outer Solar System, from William Herschel’s serendipitous discovery of Uranus in 1781, to the mathematical prediction of Neptune’s existence, to Percival Lowell’s studies of the wayward motions of those giant planets leading to his prediction of another world farther out. Lowell’s efforts led to Clyde Tombaugh’s heroic search and discovery of Pluto—then a mere speck in the telescope—at Lowell Observatory in 1930.

Pluto was finally recognized as the premier body in the Kuiper Belt, the so-called third zone of our Solar System. The first zone contains the terrestrial planets (Mercury through Mars) and the asteroid belt; the second, the gas-giant planets Jupiter through Neptune. The third zone, holding Pluto and the rest of the Kuiper Belt, is the largest and most populous region of the solar system.

Now well beyond Pluto, New Horizons will continue to wend its lonely way through the galaxy, but it is still transmitting data, even today. Its ultimate legacy may be to inspire future generations to uncover more secrets of Pluto, the Solar System, and the Universe.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Astronomy

504 pages, Hardcover

First published January 15, 2019

Reviews

[Tim Sneath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read. With the relatively recent fly-by of Pluto and the (at the time) upcoming arrival at a Kuiper Belt Object, I was looking forward to a deep read about the New Horizons mission from one of the lead investigators. This book provided a fascinating background to the history of planetary observation, the eventual discovery of Pluto and its companion Charon, and what we understand of their atmosphere and geology. What it didn't provide was much detail about the New Horizons mission itself, or indeed a lot of detail on the discoveries made on Pluto -- this was limited to the last two chapters of the book. I'd have been delighted to see more on this subject; perhaps I'll turn to the Stern book next.

[Tihomir Dimitrov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only the last 70-ish pages are about the mission New horizons. The rest resembles more like an encyclopedia ... I recommend Chasing New Horizons instead

[Varobes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first part of the book is actually really nice, I enjoyed the historical introduction that led to the serendipitous discovery of Pluto.
The science-oriented part is also OK, but I fail to understand the need to stress the planetary status of Pluto, reaching levels as to mention that a large fraction of the scientific community still considers it a planet. This is not true. Only in the US this posture is still defended for purely romantic reasons (was the only 'planet' discovered by a US citizen).

Enjoyable reading, though.