---
title: "Pluto: facts, distance and size – Krillion Space"
description: "Pluto is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt, a zone of icy bodies beyond Neptune, and was counted as the ninth planet from its discovery in 1930 until 2006."
url: https://krilion.app/atlas/pluto
language: en-US
---

# Pluto

Dwarf planet. Depth 13 on the Krillion Space voyage, in the Outer Sol.

Pluto is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt, a zone of icy bodies beyond Neptune, and was counted as the ninth planet from its discovery in 1930 until 2006. New Horizons revealed it as a surprisingly active world with nitrogen glaciers, tall mountains and a thin, hazy atmosphere.

![Pluto at depth 13 in Krillion Space, mapped with New Horizons images (NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI).](https://krilion.app/assets/atlas/pluto.webp)

## Fact sheet

- **Type:** Dwarf planet
- **Distance:** About 5.9 billion km (3.7 billion miles), or 39.5 AU, from the Sun on average, ranging from about 30 to 49 AU
- **Size:** Diameter about 2,377 km (1,477 miles), about two-thirds as wide as Earth's Moon
- **Discovered:** Discovered 18 February 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh
- **On the voyage:** Depth 13, in the Outer Sol section of the route, between Triton and Arrokoth

## Things to know

- Pluto's bright heart includes Sputnik Planitia, a glacier of nitrogen ice about 1,000 km (600 miles) wide. ([NASA](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/new-horizons/))
- Its largest moon, Charon, is about half Pluto's size, and the two keep the same faces turned toward each other as they turn every 153 hours. ([NASA](https://science.nasa.gov/dwarf-planets/pluto/facts/))
- One trip around the Sun takes Pluto about 248 Earth years, on an oval path that swings between about 30 and 49 AU from the Sun. ([NASA](https://science.nasa.gov/dwarf-planets/pluto/facts/))
- Pluto has mountains about 2 to 3 km (6,500 to 9,800 feet) tall and surface temperatures around -226 to -240°C (-375 to -400°F). ([NASA](https://science.nasa.gov/dwarf-planets/pluto/facts/))
- The International Astronomical Union reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet in 2006. ([NASA](https://science.nasa.gov/dwarf-planets/pluto/facts/))

## Missions

NASA's New Horizons is the only spacecraft to visit Pluto, flying about 7,800 km (4,800 miles) above its surface on 14 July 2015.

## Sources

- [NASA – Pluto Facts](https://science.nasa.gov/dwarf-planets/pluto/facts/)
- [NSSDC – Pluto Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/plutofact.html)
- [NASA – New Horizons](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/new-horizons/)

## On the route

- Previous landmark: [Triton](https://krilion.app/atlas/triton)
- Next landmark: [Arrokoth](https://krilion.app/atlas/arrokoth)
- [The whole Star Atlas](https://krilion.app/atlas)
- [Fly the voyage yourself](https://krilion.app/d/): every right answer warps your ship one stop deeper.