Dwarf Planet Pluto
Pluto is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt, a region of icy objects beyond the orbit of Neptune. It was discovered in 1930 by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh and was considered the ninth planet in the solar system until it was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006. Pluto has a diameter of approximately 2,377 kilometers and a mass of 1.31 x 10^22 kilograms. Pluto has a highly elliptical orbit, with a period of 248 Earth years, and its orbit is tilted relative to the plane of the solar system. Pluto has five known moons, the largest of which is Charon, which is about half the size of Pluto itself. Pluto's surface is covered in nitrogen and methane ices, as well as frozen carbon monoxide and methane. The New Horizons spacecraft, which flew past Pluto in 2015, revealed a complex and diverse world with mountains, valleys, glaciers, and hazy skies. Pluto's atmosphere is thin and composed mainly of nitrogen, with traces of methane and carbon monoxide.
Dwarf Planet Pluto is currently in the constellation of Capricornus, at a distance of 5,310,661,095 kilometers from Earth.
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Today's rise, transit and set times of Dwarf Planet Pluto from Greenwich, United Kingdom (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
- Pluto is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom .
- Right now it is placed in the South-South-East direction at an altitude of 13° above the horizon.
- Given its current magnitude, Pluto is visible with the help of a telescope having an aperture of 14 inches (350mm) or more.
- Go to interactive sky chart
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Dwarf Planet Pluto Position and Finder Charts
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
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Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Dwarf Planet Pluto is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
Also check out Where is Dwarf Planet Pluto?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Dwarf Planet Pluto in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Dwarf Planet Pluto Distance from Earth
The distance of Dwarf Planet Pluto from Earth is currently 5,310,661,095 kilometers, equivalent to 35.499577 Astronomical Units. Light takes 4 hours, 55 minutes and 14.4586 seconds to travel from Dwarf Planet Pluto and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Dwarf Planet Pluto from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.
The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of Pluto from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest Approach of Dwarf Planet Pluto to Earth
Between 1 January 1900 and 29 December 2099, the closest approach of Dwarf Planet Pluto to Earth happens on Tue May 8 1990 at a distance of 28.686952 Astronomical Units, or 4,291,506,906 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Dwarf Planet Pluto Brightness and Light Curve
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Dwarf Planet Pluto, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.
Dwarf Planet Pluto Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Dwarf Planet Pluto at epoch 18 July 2016 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457588.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
Element | Symbol | Value |
---|---|---|
Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.25183788 |
Orbit inclination | i | 17.14771141° |
Perihelion distance | q | 29.61871297 AU 4,430,896,403 km |
Aphelion distance | Q |
49.55854580 AU 7,413,852,941 km |
Semi-major axis | a |
39.58862939 AU 5,922,374,672 km |
Orbital period | period |
249.0944 years 90,981.7165 days |
Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 1989-Oct-12 14:15:35 2,447,812.0942 JD |
Next perihelion transit | 2238-Nov-18 07:27 2,538,793.8106 JD |
|
Argument of perihelion | peri | 113.70900151586° |
Longitude of the ascending node | node | 110.29238405431° |
Mean anomaly | M | 38.683663473182° |
Mean motion | n | 0.00395684°/day |
Dwarf Planet Pluto Physical Data
The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of Dwarf Planet Pluto. Source: JPL Small-Body Database
Physical Parameter | Value | Relative to Earth |
---|---|---|
Diameter | 2302 km | 0.1807 |
Mass | 0.01309 x 1024 kg | 0.0022 |
Density | 2.05 gr/cm3 | 0.3718 |
Escape Velocity | 1.23 km/s | 0.1099 |
Sideral Rotation | -153.2928 hours | -6.4047 |
Absolute Magnitude | -1 | |
Geometric Albedo | 0.3 |
Dwarf Planet Pluto 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Dwarf Planet Pluto computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Dwarf Planet Pluto in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
---|---|---|---|---|
2024 Mar 12 | 20h 16m 14s | -22° 43’ 05” | 14.53 | Capricornus |
2024 Mar 13 | 20h 16m 21s | -22° 42’ 56” | 14.53 | Capricornus |
2024 Mar 14 | 20h 16m 27s | -22° 42’ 47” | 14.53 | Capricornus |
2024 Mar 15 | 20h 16m 32s | -22° 42’ 38” | 14.53 | Capricornus |
2024 Mar 16 | 20h 16m 37s | -22° 42’ 29” | 14.53 | Capricornus |
2024 Mar 17 | 20h 16m 44s | -22° 42’ 21” | 14.53 | Capricornus |
2024 Mar 18 | 20h 16m 49s | -22° 42’ 15” | 14.53 | Capricornus |
2024 Mar 19 | 20h 16m 54s | -22° 42’ 06” | 14.53 | Capricornus |
2024 Mar 20 | 20h 16m 59s | -22° 41’ 59” | 14.53 | Capricornus |
2024 Mar 21 | 20h 17m 04s | -22° 41’ 53” | 14.53 | Capricornus |
2024 Mar 22 | 20h 17m 09s | -22° 41’ 47” | 14.53 | Capricornus |
2024 Mar 23 | 20h 17m 13s | -22° 41’ 42” | 14.53 | Capricornus |
2024 Mar 24 | 20h 17m 18s | -22° 41’ 35” | 14.53 | Capricornus |
2024 Mar 25 | 20h 17m 23s | -22° 41’ 30” | 14.53 | Capricornus |