Could a civilization as advanced as humans exist on a planet/dwarf planet like Pluto?

No.

I hate that that's my token response to things like this (I really should be more creative), but it seems pretty unlikely for a few reasons:

• Low surface gravity: Pluto's mass is 0.00128 times that of the Earth. That means that it's really hard for it to keep a lot of matter on it. Sure, it's big by human standards, but it's really small on a celestial scale. The low gravity would make it hard for any creatures like us to develop.
• Temperature: It's pretty bloody cold on Pluto. It's normally less than 200 degrees Celsius below freezing. There's no way liquid water could exist there. In fact, liquids of any kind (which are crucial for life) would have to have really low melting points to exist.

• Atmosphere: Take a look at this passage from Wikipedia:

  Pluto's elongated orbit is predicted to have a major effect on its atmosphere: as Pluto moves away from the Sun, its atmosphere should gradually freeze out, and fall to the ground.

  Good luck breathing that. Respiration will not be easy.

• Seasons: Pluto's orbital eccentricity is 0.245, way larger than that of any of the planets. This means that it may have different temperature changes as it swings closer to (and passes away from) the Sun. That's not good for life. You want stability in a planet.

• Neptune: Pluto goes inside Neptune's orbit for a brief stretch of time during its year. That has the potential (the potential) for close encounters, which could be disastrous. If Pluto goes too close, it could be flung out of its orbit! This would be horrible, no matter which way it goes. This is really only applicable if the dwarf planet in question is Pluto - the question seems to indicate that it could be a dwarf planet somewhere completely different.

You said in a comment,

I mean like as successful as us and like a sprawling civilization across the planet

My joke answer is yes, because there's not as much space to spread across, but the real answer is that it is highly unlikely that such a relatively advanced civilization could develop.

fredsbend said in a comment,

If the dwarf planet had a very dense core then the gravity could be close to Earth's. I'm not sure, but I think "dwarf" status is a measure of volume, not mass. But even if it is mass, I think most people perceive it as a measure of "size" (volume), so for pragmatic purposes, I would say it is a volume thing the OP is looking for.

I would argue, actually, that "dwarf" status is a measure of mass, as well as volume. Here's the IAU's definition of a dwarf planet:

A "dwarf planet" is a celestial body that

(a) is in orbit around the Sun,

(b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape,

(c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and

(d) is not a satellite.

Volume isn't anywhere in there. Note also, from Wikipedia,

There is no defined upper limit, and an object larger or more massive than Mercury that has not "cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit" would be classified as a dwarf planet.

(Emphasis is mine.)

Volume doesn't play into it, but mass does, in two ways:

• Enough mass to bring itself into a rounded shape
• Enough mass to clear its neighborhood of other non-satellite bodies.

However, if you did mean volume, and not mass (and thus were ignoring the strict definition of a dwarf planet), then things may be a bit different.

posted almost 10 years ago

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