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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.
8 (1) Pluto was considered a planet before 2006. The hypothesised Planet Nine remains unconfirmed. Proxima Centauri: Centaurus: 14 h 29 m 42.94853 s: −62° 40′ 46.1631″ 10.43 to 11.11 [5] 4.244: M5.5Ve [6] 0.122: 3042: 4.85: 2 (1) Closest star to the Sun and closest star to the Sun with a multiplanetary system. Planet b is potentially ...
The geology of Pluto consists of the characteristics of the surface, crust, and interior of Pluto. Because of Pluto's distance from Earth, in-depth study from Earth is difficult. Many details about Pluto remained unknown until 14 July 2015, when New Horizons flew through the Pluto system and began transmitting data back to Earth. [1]
Pluto was considered a planet up until 2006, when researchers at the International Astronomical Union voted to "demote" it to dwarf planet.
For 76 years, Pluto was considered out solar system's ninth planet. So what caused it to lose its planetary status? Find out on this episode of "Space, Down to Earth"!
Dwarf planet: Following its discovery in 1930, Pluto was considered the ninth planet. Numerous scientific discoveries in the 1990s and early 2000s placed doubt on this classification, and after the discovery of Eris, which was thought to be larger than Pluto, the International Astronomical Union met to determine a definition of a planet.
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There are eight planets within the Solar System; planets outside of the solar system are also known as exoplanets. Artist's concept of the potentially habitable exoplanet Kepler-186f. As of 14 January 2025, there are 5,819 confirmed exoplanets in 4,346 planetary systems, with 974 systems having more than one planet. [1]