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.
Find it in the Sky
Chose a date & time and view the position of Pluto in the sky on our interactive planetarium.
In Evidence
Pluto
Pluto is in the constellation of Capricornus, at a distance of
Finder Charts
The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of Pluto in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.
The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of Pluto against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.
Equatorial Coordinates
Apparent
J2000
Additional Information
Rise and Set Times
The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of Pluto from Wernberg, Austria (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/Vienna):
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
The following graph shows the distance of Pluto from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).
The value of the distance of Pluto from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.
Closest Approach to Earth
In the period between January 1, 1900 and December 29, 2099, the closest approach of Pluto to Earth happened on Tuesday 8 May 1990 at a distance of 28.686952 Astronomical Units, or 4,291,506,906 kilometers:
Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Light Curve
The following chart shows the light curve of Pluto, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.
Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Pluto at epoch July, 18 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 | October 12, 1989 2,447,812.0942 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | November 18, 2238 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 Properties
The table below lists the known key physical properties of Pluto. The source for this data is the 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 05 2025 | 20h 25m 04s | -23° 05’ 25” | 14.44 | Capricornus |
| Jul 06 2025 | 20h 24m 59s | -23° 05’ 52” | 14.44 | Capricornus |
| Jul 07 2025 | 20h 24m 53s | -23° 06’ 17” | 14.44 | Capricornus |
| Jul 08 2025 | 20h 24m 48s | -23° 06’ 43” | 14.44 | Capricornus |
| Jul 09 2025 | 20h 24m 42s | -23° 07’ 08” | 14.44 | Capricornus |
| Jul 10 2025 | 20h 24m 37s | -23° 07’ 34” | 14.44 | Capricornus |
| Jul 11 2025 | 20h 24m 31s | -23° 07’ 59” | 14.43 | Capricornus |
| Jul 12 2025 | 20h 24m 25s | -23° 08’ 26” | 14.43 | Capricornus |
| Jul 13 2025 | 20h 24m 20s | -23° 08’ 51” | 14.43 | Capricornus |
| Jul 14 2025 | 20h 24m 14s | -23° 09’ 17” | 14.43 | Capricornus |
| Jul 15 2025 | 20h 24m 08s | -23° 09’ 42” | 14.43 | Capricornus |
| Jul 16 2025 | 20h 24m 03s | -23° 10’ 08” | 14.43 | Capricornus |
| Jul 17 2025 | 20h 23m 57s | -23° 10’ 33” | 14.43 | Capricornus |
| Jul 18 2025 | 20h 23m 51s | -23° 10’ 59” | 14.43 | Capricornus |
Additional Resources on TheSkyLive
- Pluto: Complete reference information on TheSkyLive.com.
- Where is Pluto?: Key information on where to find Pluto in the sky.
- Distance of Pluto from Earth: Find out how far Pluto is from Earth right now.
- How Bright is Pluto?: Current visual brightness (magnitude) and apparent size.
- Rise and Set Times: Rise and set times of Pluto from your location.
- Interactive Sky Map: Planetarium-style interactive visualization of Pluto's position in the sky.
- Live Position Tracker: High precision real time tracker of Pluto's position using deep space imagery.
- Ephemeris: 15 days Pluto's computed ephemeris.
- Orbital elements: Information about Pluto orbital parameters.
- Physical Data: Detailed information about physical properties of Pluto.