Aurora
Tuning into the cosmos…
LoadingAurora
Tuning into the cosmos…
LoadingDwarf planet
Reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006, Pluto turned out to be a geologically active, surprising world when New Horizons flew by in 2015 — with nitrogen-ice glaciers, mountains of water ice and a giant heart-shaped plain.
At a glance
Why it's fascinating
Sputnik Planitia, the left lobe of Pluto's 'heart', is a vast glacier of nitrogen ice that churns and resurfaces itself.
Pluto and its big moon Charon orbit a point between them, locked face-to-face — effectively a double world.
Models suggest a liquid-water ocean may survive beneath Pluto's icy shell.
Moons
Pluto has five moons; the largest, Charon, is so big the two orbit a shared centre of mass.
All named moons · 5 listed
Photos
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