248
			Years it takes Pluto to travel around the sun. A Plutonian year.
			2,700,000,000
			Closest Pluto gets to the sun. About 4.7 billion km.
			4,600,000,000
			Farthest Pluto gets from the sun. About 7.4 billion km.
			24
			Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh's age when he discovered Pluto in 1930.
			-356°F
			Estimated average temperature on Pluto. About -215 °C.
			-128°F
			Coldest spot on Earth. Seems toasty compared to Pluto. Where do you think the coldest spot on Earth is?
			6.4
			Number of Earth days you'd need to stay up to equal one day on Pluto.

Pluto is the ninth planet from our Sun. It is also the smallest planet. Even our moon is bigger. Pluto is named for the Roman god of the underworld. Venetia Burney, an 11-year-old girl from Oxford, England, suggested the name. Imagine if astronomers had listened to the New York Times. Right now you'd be reading about the planet Minerva!

Pluto and its moon – Charon – travel on an odd, slow orbit around the Sun. For 20 years, from 1979 to 1999, it was actually closer to the Sun than Neptune. But it will be more than 230 years before Pluto and Neptune again trade places, so you only have to remember Pluto is the ninth planet.

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Pluto is so different from most planets some wonder if it should be considered a planet at all. Pluto may be the largest of a group of icy objects just beyond Neptune called the Kuiper Belt. The Kuiper Belt is made up of millions of icy and rocky objects. Astronomers think some comets come from the Kuiper Belt

Astronomers think the frozen objects in the Kuiper Belt may hold clues about the origin of our solar system – sort of like how fossils tell the story of dinosaurs on Earth.

WHAT'S IT LIKE ON PLUTO?
Cold. How cold? Imagine a world so chilly that even the air can freeze and fall like snow. Brrrr. From Pluto, our Sun would look like a very bright star. There is no air to breathe on Pluto, so you would need a spacesuit to explore.

Meet Dr. Alan Stern: Pluto Expert

Pluto and Charon are so far away they are difficult to see - even with powerful telescopes. Even the best pictures are very fuzzy. We can only guess what Pluto's surface looks like. It is probably covered with frost. Some areas may be brighter than snow, while others are "darker than coal." Charon may be covered with ice. Imagine a giant skating rink.

PLUTO CHALLENGE
Musician Christine Lavin wrote a song about Pluto's status as planet. Do you think Pluto is a planet? Write your own song or poem to support your opinion.

MISSIONS TO PLUTO
Featured Mission: New Horizons
Pluto is the only planet in our solar system not visited by a spacecraft. NASA is considering a mission called New Horizons to explore the mysteries of Pluto and the Kuiper Belt.

Source: NASA