90 years ago today, a recently discovered celestial body was officially given the name of Pluto.
Clyde Tombaugh, the discoverer, credited 11 year old Venetia Burney from Oxford for first suggesting the name that would end up being adopted.According to the urban legend she would have suggested it to her grandfather who made it known to the people in charge, because it had the ability to make itself invisible and was a planet from which one couldn’t come back, which evoked the God of the underworld.
Pluto conjuncting Saturn exact in January, mere weeks from its discovery anniversary of February 18th 1930, has been at the heart of discussions with the major crisis the world is going through but no one has mentioned the landmark 90th birthday around it. Does it have no meaning at all?
While Saturn can be seen with an unaided eye, putting any date of discovery in a blurred cloud of supposition, 1610 is recorded as the first time it was observed through a telescope by Galileo, making 2020 another ‘even’ 410 anniversary.
Anyway, name day Happy Anniversary Pluto 😊