50 years ago, astronomers were chipping away at Pluto’s mass
Excerpt from the August 28, 1971 issue of Science News
![a photo of Charon behind Pluto](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/071421_MT_pluto-charon_feat.jpg?fit=1030%2C580&ssl=1)
Throughout the 20th century, estimates for the mass of Pluto (right) kept getting smaller. The discovery of Pluto’s moon, Charon (left), helped settle the dwarf planet’s size.
NASA, JHUAPL, SwRI