Pluto Images

 
For the next forty-five minutes or so, I was in the most excited state of mind in my life. I had to check further to be absolutely sure. I measured the shift with a metric rule to be 3.5 millimeters. Then I replaced one of the plates with the 21 January plate. Almost instantly I found the image 1.2 millimeters east of the 23 January position, perfectly consistent with the shift on the six day interval of the discovery pair.....

Then I walked down the hall to V. M. Slipher's office. Trying to control myself, I stepped into his office as nonchalantly as possible. He looked up from his desk work. "Dr. Slipher, I have found your Planet X." 

OUT OF THE DARKNESS: THE PLANET PLUTO by Clyde W. Tombaugh and Patrick Moore
 
Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930.   To  see Pluto yourself, you will probably need at least a 10 inch scope and dark skies.  Even then Pluto will appear as a very faint star, just at the limit of visibility.  Although, I have not been able to, you may be able to catch a fleeting glimpse in an 8" scope if you have very dark skies and are an experienced observer.   As these images show, you can easily image Pluto with an 8" scope, even from a suburban location.   Pluto is too small to show a planetary disks in amateur scopes.  The best way to confirm that you have in fact seen Pluto is to observe it on two successive days and note it's movement. 

 
 
Scope:  8" LX 200 SCT
MX - 5C CCD
This image of Pluto was taken on 1 Jun 99 at about 5hrs UT. 
 		 Focal Ratio:  f4 
Exposure:  120 sec 
Scope:  8" LX 200 SCT
MX - 5C CCD
Focal Ratio:  f4 
Exposure:  1 20 sec 
These two images show the movement of Pluto over a 10 day period during Aug 99.  High clouds were present when the second image was taken, so fewer background stars are shown.   The top image shows stars dimmer than magnitude 15.3.

These two images show Pluto's movement in Jun 00.  It was the first time I had imaged Pluto during the year 2000, and the first time I had used the STAR 2000 Auto tracker to image Pluto.  I've marked the position of Pluto in the top image.  See if you can find it in the lower image.  Click here for the answer.

 Scope:  8" LX 200 SCT
MX - 5C CCD & STAR 2000 Auto Tracker
Focal Ratio:  f4 
Exposure:  5 min 

Pluto is really moving fast towards the west.  About 1.5 arcmin per day, so in 11 days between this photo and the 10 Jun photo, the star background has changed completely.

 Scope:  8" LX 200 SCT
MX - 5C CCD & STAR 2000
Focal Ratio:  f4 
Exposure:  5 min 

First images of 2001.  Click here for animation.

 Scope:  8" LX 200 SCT
MX - 5C CCD & STAR 2000
Focal Ratio:  f6.6 
Exposure:  5 min 

First image of the 2002 viewing season.

 Scope:  8" LX 200 SCT
MX - 5C CCD,  STAR 2000 & IDAS LPR
Focal Ratio:  f4.8 
Exposure:  5 min 
Click Here to visit the NASA New Horizon Mission to Pluto. 
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