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Sunrise: 7:25 
Transit: 12:14 
Sunset: 17:03
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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Pluto

Below the horizon.  Rise: 7:11 | Tran: 11:02 | Set: 14:53
Alt: -31.83°   Az: 272.59°   Direction: West

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.

Pluto is in the constellation of Capricornus, at a distance of 5,404,738,787.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 20h 21m 39s and the Declination is -22° 52’ 35” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of Pluto is 14.54 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Pluto in Capricornus on February, 09 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Pluto in Capricornus on February, 09 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Pluto is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Pluto
RA: 20h 20m 11s
Dec: -22° 57’ 25”
Deep sky finder chart for Pluto. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Pluto?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Pluto in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

20h 21m 39s
-22° 52’ 35”
07h 31m 35s
03h 53m 15s

J2000

20h 20m 11s
-22° 57’ 25”

Additional Information

Capricornus
14.54

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Pluto from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 112.9°
Max altitude: 15.6°
Azimuth: 247.1°
  • Pluto is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • 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

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Pluto from Earth is currently 5,404,738,787.0 kilometers, equivalent to 36.1284472948 Astronomical Units. Light takes 5h 28.268s to travel from Pluto and arrive to us.

5,404,738,787.0
36.1284472948
5h 28.268s

The following chart shows the distance of 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.

Chart of the distance of Pluto from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

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

Between 1 January 1900 and 29 December 2099, the closest approach of Pluto to Earth happens on Tue May 8 1990 at a distance of 28.686952 Astronomical Units, or 4,291,506,906 kilometers:

Tue May 8 1990
4,291,506,906
28.686952

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of 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.

Chart of the magnitude of Pluto as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of 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

Physical Data

The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of 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

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Pluto computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 Feb 02 20h 20m 37s -22° 55’ 07” 14.54 Capricornus
2025 Feb 03 20h 20m 45s -22° 54’ 47” 14.54 Capricornus
2025 Feb 04 20h 20m 53s -22° 54’ 27” 14.54 Capricornus
2025 Feb 05 20h 21m 01s -22° 54’ 07” 14.54 Capricornus
2025 Feb 06 20h 21m 09s -22° 53’ 47” 14.54 Capricornus
2025 Feb 07 20h 21m 17s -22° 53’ 28” 14.54 Capricornus
2025 Feb 08 20h 21m 25s -22° 53’ 09” 14.54 Capricornus
2025 Feb 09 20h 21m 33s -22° 52’ 50” 14.54 Capricornus
2025 Feb 10 20h 21m 41s -22° 52’ 30” 14.54 Capricornus
2025 Feb 11 20h 21m 49s -22° 52’ 11” 14.55 Capricornus
2025 Feb 12 20h 21m 56s -22° 51’ 53” 14.55 Capricornus
2025 Feb 13 20h 22m 04s -22° 51’ 35” 14.55 Capricornus
2025 Feb 14 20h 22m 12s -22° 51’ 16” 14.55 Capricornus
2025 Feb 15 20h 22m 20s -22° 50’ 58” 14.55 Capricornus

Additional Resources