Ask Pluto

Q: Hi, Pluto. Do you have a pet?

-Cassandra Jones

A: Yes, Cassandra. I have a number of dust bunnies I consider my "pets."

Q: Dear Pluto, i was wondering if you have a favorite food.

- James Woo

A: Hi, James. I eat Planet-O's for breakfast. Does that count?

Q: Pluto, my Dad says since you're an asteroid you could just smash into earth.

- Kyron Butler

A: Well, Kyron, asteroids can hit Earth like your Dad says, but I'm really far away from your planet (3.5 billion miles), so I don't think you have anything to worry about anytime soon.

Q: Have you ever met a shooting star?

-Lillian Muloney

A: Shooting stars aren't really stars even though they're called that; they're actually meteors. And, yes, Lillian, I am friends with many meteors of varying sizes and shapes out here in the Kuiper Belt. I wouldn't be friends with one that tried to hit me, though.

Q: Dear Pluto, one more thing: what did you think about the New Horizons coming to visit you?

- James Woo

A: Well, James, if you've read my story, you know that I was initially really excited about it, but then I started to get a little creeped out. I mean, would you like someone pointing a camera in your windows 24-7?! But then, eventually, things started to turn around for me. Check out my story to find out more (or enjoy reading it again, if you've already read it. I love to reread books, especially my favorite series "Diary of a Globular Cluster.")

Q: How old are you?

-Kara Phillips

A: Well, kara, that's hard to pinpoint, but I'd say about 4.6 billion years old, give or take a few million years. we don't celebrate birthdays here in the Kuiper Belt, though; we celebrate "perihelions."

Q: Hey, Pluto, I want to ask: Do you have Whiskers?

-Sam Finney

A: Not that I know of,Sam, but if scientists keep discovering things about me, you never know what they'll find.