Pluto

Pluto is a dwarf planet located in the Kuiper Belt, a region of the solar system beyond the orbit of Neptune. It was classified as the ninth planet until 2006 when it was reclassified as a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

Characteristics

• Size and Composition: Pluto is smaller than Earth's moon, with a rocky core and a mantle of water ice. It has a thin atmosphere composed mainly of nitrogen, with traces of methane and carbon monoxide.
• Orbit and Moons: Pluto has a highly elliptical orbit that takes it closer to the Sun than Neptune for part of its orbit. It has five known moons, the largest of which is Charon, discovered in 1978.
• New Horizons Mission: NASA's New Horizons spacecraft flew by Pluto in 2015, providing the first close-up images of the dwarf planet and its moons. The mission revealed surprising discoveries, including a complex surface with icy mountains and a diverse range of geological features.

Did you know?

• Charon: Charon is unusually large compared to Pluto, with a diameter about half that of the dwarf planet. The two bodies are tidally locked, meaning they always show the same face to each other as they orbit around their common center of mass.
• Kuiper Belt Object: Pluto is the largest known object in the Kuiper Belt, a region of the solar system populated by icy bodies and dwarf planets. Its discovery in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh sparked a new era of exploration in the outer solar system.