Skip to content

B13: Our Solar System: Pluto Traditional Cache

Hidden : 5/24/2013
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
4 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:

This cache is one of 14 caches in a series, 13 traditional caches and one puzzle cache. 10 of the caches in the series have numbers under the lids that will be used to find the FINAL cache. The 10 numbers have been randomly distributed within the 13 caches.


The theme for the 2013 BLITZ is Go BIG!

I decided to hide some caches along the Bridal Falls Forest Service Road. This road offers a BIG hike (if you choose to hike it), a BIG view of the Fraser Valley, and now some caches dedicated to one of the biggest things I could think of, our solar system.

You will most likely need a 4x4 vehicle if you plan to drive to the caches in this series.



Pluto is the second largest dwarf planet in the Solar System (as of 2013) and the tenth largest body observed directly orbiting the Sun. Originally classified as the ninth planet from the Sun, Pluto was recategorized as a dwarf planet and plutoid owing to the discovery that it is only one of several large bodies within the Kuiper belt.

Like other members of the Kuiper belt, Pluto is composed primarily of rock and ice and is relatively small, approximately one-sixth the mass of the Earth's Moon and one-third its volume. It has an eccentric and highly inclined orbit that causes Pluto to periodically come closer to the Sun than Neptune.

From its discovery in 1930 until 2006, Pluto was classified as a planet. In the late 1970s, following the discovery of minor planet 2060 Chiron in the outer Solar System and the recognition of Pluto's relatively low mass, its status as a major planet began to be questioned. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, many objects similar to Pluto were discovered in the outer Solar System, notably the scattered disc object Eris in 2005, which is 27% more massive than Pluto. On August 24, 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) defined what it means to be a "planet" within the Solar System. This definition excluded Pluto as a planet and added it as a member of the new category "dwarf planet" along with Eris and Ceres.[17] After the reclassification, Pluto was added to the list of minor planets and given the number 134340. A number of scientists hold that Pluto should continue to be classified as a planet, and that other dwarf planets should be added to the roster of planets along with Pluto.

Pluto has five known moons, the largest being Charon, discovered in 1978, along with Nix and Hydra, discovered in 2005, and the provisionally named S/2011 (134340) 1, discovered in 2011, and S/2012 (134340) 1, discovered in 2012. "Vulcan" and "Cerberus" are proposed names, by popular vote, for the newly discovered moons.

In 2015 the New Horizons spacecraft is due to provide humanity the first close look at Pluto and its moons, when it will perform a flyby of the system.

Information provided by wikipedia.

I hope you enjoy looking for this geocache.

FV

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

orfvqr ynetr ebpx

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)