Pluto

Overview

• Pluto is no longer officially a planet but now defined as a dwarf planet
• Its orbit takes 248 Earth years and does not conform to the 8 planets as it over takes Neptune to be closer to the Sun for a period of 20 years
• Pluto has 5 moons orbiting around it
• Pluto is located in an outer part of our Solar System known as the Kuiper Belt

Size and Distances

• Pluto on average orbits at 3.6 billion miles or 5.8 billion kilometres from the Sun
• It is smaller than our Moon with a Diameter of 1400 miles or 2380 kilometres
• At their closest, Pluto is 2.66 billion miles or 4.28 billion kilometres from Earth
• You could easily fit Pluto inside the U.S.A

Composition

• Pluto is thought to have a rocky inner core surrounded by thick ice
• The surface is made up of mountains, valleys and plains
• The dwarf planet is very similar in composition to that of the Gas Giant Moons
• There are signs of glacial flows on the surface of Pluto due to lack of numerous craters

Temperature and Atmosphere

• The average temperature on Pluto -228 to -238 degrees celsius
• Pluto has a thin atmosphere of nitrogen, methane and carbon monoxide.
• The atmosphere keeps Pluto well insolated causing seasonal changes
• The suface pressure of Pluto is extremely low - roughly 1/100000 that of Earth