"Pluto: Gateway to the Solar System's Third Zone"
Pluto was discovered in 1930 but remained an enigma for
over 60 years
because of its stark differences with the other planets. The discovery
of
the Kuiper belt in the mid-1990s revolutionized our view of the solar
system
and placed Pluto in its proper context. Pluto can now be viewed as the
gateway to the debris disk beyond Neptune that is a leftover of the
planetary formation process that terminated roughly 4 billion years
ago. My
presentation will discuss this new perspective and several exciting
recent
discoveries, including the two new moons around Pluto and other
Pluto-sized
objects in the Kuiper belt, as well as the planned in situ exploration
of
Pluto and the Kuiper belt by the recently launched New Horizons mission.