Pluto

Table of Contents

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Pluto and Charon

haze layer on Pluto

New Horizons near Pluto

mountains on Pluto

Sputnik Planitia on Pluto

sunset view of Pluto

Pluto; Charon; Nix; Hydra

For Students

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Pluto. The Changing Faces of Pluto. Most detailed view to date of the entire surface of the dwarf planet Pluto, as constructed from multiple NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs taken from 2002 to 2003.

10 Important Dates in Pluto History

Pluto. Crop of asset: 172304/IC code: pluto0010 at 270 degrees. The Changing Faces of Pluto. Most detailed view to date of the entire surface of the dwarf planet Pluto, constructed from multiple NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs 2002-03.

Wee Worlds: Our 5 (Official) Dwarf Planets

Remarkable new details of Pluto's largest moon Charon are revealed in this image from New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), taken late on July 13, 2015 from a distance of 289,000 miles

Why Is Pluto No Longer a Planet?

Artist's concept of the New Horizons spacecraft as it approaches Pluto and its three moons in summer of 2015.

Christening Pluto’s Moons

US Marines firing at Fallujah, Iraq, during the Second Battle of Fallujah in November 2004. Operation Iraqi Freedom, Iraq War.

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Fish. Lionfish. Lion-fish. Turkey fish. Fire-fish. Red lionfish. Pterois volitans. Venomous fin spines. Coral reefs. Underwater. Ocean. Red lionfish swims by seaweed.

10 of the World’s Most Dangerous Fish

The Colosseum, Rome, Italy. Giant amphitheatre built in Rome under the Flavian emperors. (ancient architecture; architectural ruins)

New Seven Wonders of the World

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Binary Computer Code, Binary Code, Internet, Technology, Password, Data

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In this aerial photo, structures are damaged and destroyed October 15, 2005 in Balakot, Pakistan. It is estimated that 90% of the city of Balakot was leveled by the earthquake. The death toll in the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck northern Pakistan on October 8, 2005 is believed to be 38,000 with at least 1,300 more dead in Indian Kashmir. SEE CONTENT NOTES.

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Pluto: Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

News •

The tiny planet-not-planet that could: Pluto was discovered 95 years ago today • Feb. 18, 2025, 7:41 AM ET (USA Today)

Photos and Videos

Pluto and Charon

haze layer on Pluto

New Horizons near Pluto

mountains on Pluto

Sputnik Planitia on Pluto

sunset view of Pluto

Pluto; Charon; Nix; Hydra

Why isn't Pluto a planet?

Learn about the dwarf planets within our solar system

How do features on Pluto and its moons get their names?

Study the rotating Pluto through photographs taken by Hubble Space Telescope from 2002 to 2003

See All Videos and Images →

Topics

Ceres Haumea Eris Makemake

Quiz

Scientists combine four images from New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) with Ralph instrument infrared images to create this false color global view of dwarf planet Pluto on July 14, 2015, 280,000 miles away from the spacecraft.

Pluto

View of the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31, M31).

Astronomy and Space Quiz

The orbits of the planets and other elements of the solar system, including asteroids, Kuiper belt, Oort cloud, comet

Space Odyssey

Saturn. Saturn and its rings. Second largest planet of the solar system. Space Art

Planets and the Earth’s Moon

View of the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31, M31).

Astronomy and Space Quiz

Nicolaus Copernicus. Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) Polish astronomer. In 1543 he published, forward proof of a Heliocentric (sun centered) universe. Coloured stipple engraving published London 1802. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi.

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M101 (NGC 5457, The Pinwheel Galaxy). Hubble Space Telescope image of face-on spiral galaxy Messier 101 (M101). Largest most detailed photo of a spiral galaxy that has ever been released from Hubble. Created from 1994-2003

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List

Artist's concept of the New Horizons spacecraft as it approaches Pluto and its three moons in summer of 2015.

Christening Pluto’s Moons

Pluto. Crop of asset: 172304/IC code: pluto0010 at 270 degrees. The Changing Faces of Pluto. Most detailed view to date of the entire surface of the dwarf planet Pluto, constructed from multiple NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs 2002-03.

Wee Worlds: Our 5 (Official) Dwarf Planets

Pluto. The Changing Faces of Pluto. Most detailed view to date of the entire surface of the dwarf planet Pluto, as constructed from multiple NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs taken from 2002 to 2003.

10 Important Dates in Pluto History

Demystified

Remarkable new details of Pluto's largest moon Charon are revealed in this image from New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), taken late on July 13, 2015 from a distance of 289,000 miles

Why Is Pluto No Longer a Planet?

Remarkable new details of Pluto's largest moon Charon are revealed in this image from New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), taken late on July 13, 2015 from a distance of 289,000 miles

Why Is Pluto No Longer a Planet?