Pluto

Pluto is a small, icy world far from the Sun. It used to be called the ninth planet. In 2006, scientists made a new group called dwarf planets, and Pluto joined it. Pluto is very cold and covered in ice. It lives in a part of space called the Kuiper Belt.

A Cold Little World

Pluto is smaller than Earth's moon. It is so far from the Sun that the Sun looks like a bright star in its sky. Pluto has mountains made of ice and flat plains. One famous part looks like a big heart.

The very first telescope photos that helped scientists discover Pluto in 1930.
The very first telescope photos that helped scientists discover Pluto in 1930. (Lowell Observatory Archives, Clyde Tombaugh / Wikimedia Commons)

Moons of Pluto

Pluto has five moons that circle around it. The biggest moon is called Charon. Charon is so big that Pluto and Charon almost act like a pair. The other moons are smaller and have fun names like Nix and Hydra.

Fun Facts

  • One year on Pluto equals 248 Earth years.
  • A spacecraft called New Horizons flew past Pluto in 2015.
  • Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh.

Did You Know?

Pluto was named by an 11-year-old girl from England named Venetia Burney.