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Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest known trans-Neptunian object by volume, by a small margin, but is less massive than Eris.
The arctic climate of Pluto is defined as the latitude ranges that, during one orbit, experience both continuous sunlight during summer season and continuous darkness during winter season. The permanent arctic zones of the dwarf planet range from 90°N to 37°N in the northern hemisphere and from 90°S to 37°S in the southern hemisphere.
The dwarf planet Pluto is too cold to sustain life on the surface. It has an average of -232 °C, and surface water only exists in a rocky state. The interior of Pluto may be warmer and perhaps contain a subsurface ocean. Also, the possibility of geothermal activity comes into play.
Pluto was considered a planet up until 2006, when researchers at the International Astronomical Union voted to "demote" it to dwarf planet.
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From its discovery in 1846 until the discovery of Pluto in 1930, Neptune was the farthest known planet. When Pluto was discovered, it was considered a planet, and Neptune thus became the second-farthest known planet, except for a 20-year period between 1979 and 1999 when Pluto's elliptical orbit brought it closer than Neptune to the Sun, making ...
The definition of a planet has been a hot topic ever since a change kicked Pluto out of our planetary lineup in 2006. ... Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune—the complete list ...
Since 2008, there have been five dwarf planets recognized by the IAU, although only Pluto has actually been confirmed to be in hydrostatic equilibrium [25] (Ceres is close to equilibrium, though some anomalies remain unexplained). [26] Ceres orbits in the asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter. The others all orbit beyond Neptune.