Pluto in our solar system

Where is Pluto located?

It is located in the distant Kuiper Belt. Discovered in 1930, Pluto was long considered our solar system's ninth planet. But after the discovery of similar worlds deeper in the Kuiper Belt, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union.

Why is Pluto a dwarf planet?

The IAU stated that Pluto falls into the dwarf planet category because it is located in a part of our solar system known as the Trans-Neptunian region (beyond Neptune) where other objects might cross Pluto's orbital path. Pluto is only about 1,400 miles wide. At that small size, Pluto is only about half the width of the United States.

Why is Pluto so important?

Scientists now know that, despite it being literally out in the cold, Pluto is an exciting, active and scientifically valuable world. Incredibly, it even holds some of the keys to better understand the other small planets in the far reaches of our solar system.

Is Pluto a planet again?

"Pluto is a planet again — at least in Arizona". npr.org. NPR. Retrieved April 12, 2024. ^ "Pluto to become most distant planet". JPL/NASA. January 28, 1999. Archived from the original on September 2, 2010. Retrieved January 16, 2011. ^ Sussman, Gerald Jay; Wisdom, Jack (1988). "Numerical evidence that the motion of Pluto is chaotic".

Why is Pluto a residual planetesimal?

Like other members of the Kuiper belt, Pluto is thought to be a residual planetesimal; a component of the original protoplanetary disc around the Sun that failed to fully coalesce into a full-fledged planet. Most astronomers agree that Pluto owes its position to a sudden migration undergone by Neptune early in the Solar System's formation.

How big is Pluto compared to other planets?

With less than 0.2 lunar masses, Pluto is much less massive than the terrestrial planets, and also less massive than seven moons: Ganymede, Titan, Callisto, Io, the Moon, Europa, and Triton. The mass is much less than thought before Charon was discovered. [ 127 ]