Pluto is a dwarf planet, not a full-fledged planet. It orbits the Sun in the Kuiper Belt, characterized by a small size, icy composition, and a complex system of moons.
Discovered in 1930, Pluto’s classification sparked debates in the astronomical community and led to its reclassification in 2006.
- Pluto is a dwarf planet, not a full-fledged planet.
- It’s in the Kuiper Belt, a region beyond Neptune.
- Discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh.
- Pluto has five known moons, with Charon being the largest.
- Its surface is covered in frozen nitrogen and methane.
- Pluto’s orbit is highly eccentric and inclined.
- It’s smaller than Earth’s Moon.
- New Horizons spacecraft visited Pluto in 2015.
- Pluto has a thin atmosphere of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane.
- It takes 248 Earth years to complete one orbit around the Sun.
