Films on Demand is distributed by Films Media Group for Films for the Humanities & Sciences, Cambridge Educational, Meridian Education, and Shopware. Encoded with permission for digital streaming by Films Media Group on August 21, 2011. Title from distributor's description. Mode of access: Internet.; System requirements: FOD playback platform.
Overview & Sponsors: The Pluto Files (1:37) -- Pluto Declassified (4:25) -- Pluto: Oddball or Planet? (6:42) -- History of Pluto (3:53) -- Pluto's Name (4:26) -- Discoverer of Pluto: Clyde Tombaugh (2:08) -- Planet Discovery Timeline (1:34) -- _A Visit to the Tombaugh Family (5:34) -- Pluto: Planet or Kuiper Belt Object? (3:42) -- In Search of More Plutos (3:09) -- New Definition of Planet (5:21) -- Pluto: Dwarf Planet (3:49) -- New Horizons Spacecraft (2:14) -- Controversy Over Definitions _(3:23) -- Credits and Sponsors: The Pluto Files (1:27). Public Broadcasting Service (U.S.).
Since its discovery in 1930, the ninth planet - Pluto - has held a warm place in the public imagination. So, when the American Museum of Natural History''s Hayden Planetarium stopped calling Pluto a planet, a great controversy ensued. _Hayden Planetarium''s Director Neil deGrasse Tyson found himself at the center of a firestorm led by angry, Pluto-loving elementary school students. But why has a cold, distant rock captured so many hearts? This episode of NOVA joins Tyson as he _recounts the amazing story of Pluto''s discovery and the captivating science that surrounds this former planet, including the possibility of finding more Pluto-like celestial bodies in the mysterious Kuiper belt, an area of icy rocks at the edge of _the solar system. From the scientists trying to re-classify Pluto to die-hard Pluto-philes, Tyson meets a fascinating cast of characters with just one thing in common: strong opinions about Pluto.