Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...

was discovered in 1930 and has made several appearances in fiction since. It was initially popular as it was newly discovered and thought to be the outermost object of the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...

Alien life Extraterrestrial life, colloquially referred to as alien life, is life that may occur outside Earth and which did not originate on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been conclusively detected, although efforts are underway. Such life might ...

, sometimes intelligent life and occasionally an entire ecosphere, is a common motif in fictional depictions of Pluto.

Pluto

Early depictions

The earliest story featuring Pluto was likely the

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

1931 novel ''

Into Plutonian Depths Into, entering or changing form, may also refer to: * INTO University Partnerships, a British business * ''Into'' (album), an album by the Rasmus * ''Into'' (magazine), a digital magazine owned by Grindr * Into, a male Finnish name * Irish Natio ...

'' by

Stanton A. Coblentz Stanton Arthur Coblentz (August 24, 1896 – September 6, 1982) was an American literature, American writer and poet. He received a Master's Degree in English literature and then began publishing poetry during the early 1920s. His first publi ...

, which depicts an advanced Plutonian civilization. Other early depictions are found in the 1935 short story " The Red Peri" by Stanley G. Weinbaum, where it houses a base for

space pirate Space pirates are a type of stock character from science fiction. A take on the traditional seafaring pirates of history or the fictional air pirates of the 19th century, space pirates travel through outer space. Where traditional pirates target ...

s, and the 1936 short story " En Route to Pluto" by Wallace West, where it is inhabited by mist creatures.

Life on Pluto

Pluto is

terraformed Terraforming or terraformation ("Earth-shaping") is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology of a planet, moon, or other body to be similar to the environment of Earth to make ...

in the 1944 short story "

Circle of Confusion In optics, a circle of confusion (CoC) is an optical spot caused by a cone of light rays from a lens not coming to a perfect focus when imaging a point source. It is also known as disk of confusion, circle of indistinctness, blur circle, or bl ...

" by George O. Smith and

colonized Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...

in the 1958 novel '' Man of Earth'' by

Algis Budrys Algirdas Jonas "Algis" Budrys (January 9, 1931 – June 9, 2008) was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome (in collaboration with Jerome Bixby), John ...

. Aliens from elsewhere have settled Pluto in the 1950 novel '' First Lensman'' by

E. E. Smith Edward Elmer Smith (May 2, 1890 – August 31, 1965), publishing as E. E. Smith, Ph.D. and later as E. E. "Doc" Smith, was an American food engineer (specializing in doughnut and pastry mixes) and science-fiction author, best known for the '' ...

. The 1970 novel '' World's Fair 1992'' by

Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Grand ...

portrays an

astrobiological Astrobiology, and the related field of exobiology, is an interdisciplinary scientific field that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. Astrobiology is the multidisciplinary field that investig ...

expedition to Pluto. An astronaut is stranded on Pluto in the 1968 short story " Wait it Out" by

Larry Niven Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His best-known works are ''Ringworld'' (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards, and, with Jerry Pournelle, ''The Mote in God's Eye'' ...

Other depictions

Pluto is found to be artificial in the 1973 short story " Construction Shack" by

Clifford D. Simak Clifford Donald Simak (; August 3, 1904 – April 25, 1988) was an American science fiction writer. He won three Hugo Awards and one Nebula Award. The Science Fiction Writers of America made him its third SFWA Grand Master, and the Horror W ...

, and an artefact resembling

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...

bearing

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

text is discovered on it in the 1984 novel '' Icehenge'' by

Kim Stanley Robinson Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American writer of science fiction. He has published twenty-two novels and numerous short stories and is best known for his ''Mars'' trilogy. His work has been translated into 24 languages. Many ...

. In the 1959 novel ''

The Secret of the Ninth Planet ''The Secret of the Ninth Planet'' is a science-fiction novel written by Donald A. Wollheim and first published in the United States in 1959 by the John C. Winston Co. Wollheim takes his heroes on a grand tour of the Solar System as that team s ...

'' by

Donald A. Wollheim Donald Allen Wollheim (October 1, 1914 – November 2, 1990) was an American science fiction editor, publisher, writer, and fan. As an author, he published under his own name as well as under pseudonyms, including David Grinnell, Martin Pearso ...

, Pluto originally came from a different solar system and its inhabitants are malevolent. A complex planetary ecosphere on Pluto is depicted in the 1988 novel '' Iceborn'' by

Gregory Benford Gregory Benford (born January 30, 1941) is an American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is professor emeritus at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. He is a contributing editor of ''Reas ...

and Paul A. Carter. Pluto was reclassified from

planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...

dwarf planet A dwarf planet is a small planetary-mass object that is in direct orbit of the Sun, smaller than any of the eight classical planets but still a world in its own right. The prototypical dwarf planet is Pluto. The interest of dwarf planets to p ...

in 2006, a subject which was later explored in the 2011 novel '' Young Tales of the Old Cosmos'' by

Rhys Hughes Rhys Henry Hughes (born 1966, Cardiff, Wales) is a Welsh fantasy writer and essayist. Career Born in Cardiff, Hughes has written in a variety of forms, from short stories to novels. His long novel ''Engelbrecht Again!'' is a sequel to Mauric ...

Charon

Pluto's moon

Charon In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon (; grc, Χάρων) is a psychopomp, the ferryman of Hades, the Greek underworld. He carries the souls of those who have been given funeral rites across the rivers Acheron and Styx, which separate the wo ...

was discovered in 1977 and appears as a

setting Setting may refer to: * A location (geography) where something is set * Set construction in theatrical scenery * Setting (narrative), the place and time in a work of narrative, especially fiction * Setting up to fail a manipulative technique to eng ...

in the 1990 novels ''

Take Back Plenty ''Take Back Plenty'' (1990), is a novel by British writer Colin Greenland, which won both major British science fiction awards, the 1990 British SF Association award and the 1991 Arthur C. Clarke Award,Clute and Nicholls 1995, p. 525. as well a ...

'' by

Colin Greenland Colin Greenland (born 17 May 1954 in Dover, Kent, England) is a British science fiction writer, whose first story won the second prize in a 1982 Faber & Faber competition. His best-known novel is ''Take Back Plenty'' (1990), winner of both majo ...

and '' The Ring of Charon'' by

Roger MacBride Allen Roger MacBride Allen (born September 26, 1957) is an American science fiction author. He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and grew up outside of Washington, D.C., graduating from Walt Whitman High School. He graduated from Boston University ...

. In the 1987 novel '' Charon's Ark'' by , it is revealed that Charon is an alien

world ship A generation ship, or generation starship, is a hypothetical type of interstellar ark starship that travels at sub-light speed. Since such a ship might require hundreds to thousands of years to reach nearby stars, the original occupants of a gen ...

carrying prehistoric lifeforms from Earth.

References

External links

Pluto in Science Fiction bibliography
by Steven H Silver {{Pluto

Pluto

Early depictions

Life on Pluto

Other depictions

Charon

References

Further reading

External links