Skip to content
Solar
Dwarf planet

Pluto

(134340) Pluto

Wikipedia ↗

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
35.642 AU
True anomaly
80.8°
Distance from Earth
35.238 AU
As of
2 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Sun Earth — 1.001 AU from the Sun Earth Pluto — 35.642 AU from the Sun Pluto
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Pluto is 35.238 AU from Earth today (4.9 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
20h 24m 09s
Declination
-23° 43′ 32″
Constellation
Capricornus
Distance from Earth
35.25 AU
Elongation from the Sun
112.42° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it's up after dark, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
39.589 AU
Eccentricity
0.2518
Inclination
17.15°
Orbital period
249.1 years
Perihelion
29.619 AU
Aphelion
49.559 AU
Longitude of ascending node
110.29°
Argument of periapsis
113.71°
Epoch · J2000
2457588.5
Orbit class · TNO
Trans-Neptunian object
Earth MOID · 11,149.4 LD
28.649 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.233

Orbit quality

Observations used
7,212
Data arc
86.31 years
First observed
29 March 1930
Last observed
19 July 2016

Physical properties

Mean radius
1,188 km
Equatorial radius
1,188 km
Polar radius
1,188 km
Mass
1.303 × 10²² kg
Density
1.7 g/cm³
Rotation period
-6.39 days
Axial tilt
119.51°
Surface gravity
0.62 m/s²
Escape velocity
1.21 km/s
GM
870 km³/s²
Ellipticity
0
Length of day
6.39 days
Synodic period
366.7 days
Mean orbital speed
4.64 km/s
Black-body temperature
37.5 K
Solar irradiance
0.9 W/m²

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.42
Bond albedo
0.25
Absolute magnitude (H)
-0.7
V(1,0) magnitude
-1
Representative colour
#CFA88B

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Tombaugh, C. W.
Discovery date
23 January 1930
Discovery site
Flagstaff

Also known as 134340 · 1930 BM · 134340 Pluto (1930 BM)

Named TNO

Atmosphere

Surface pressure · ~13 microbar
0.000013 bar
Temperature · 24 - 38 K (-247 - -233 C)
24 K

Composition by volume

  • Nitrogen (N2) 99 %
  • Methane (CH4) 0.5 %
  • Carbon Monoxide (CO) 0.05 %

Source: NASA Planetary Fact Sheet.

5 moons

Charon 606 km 1.586 × 10²¹ kg 1.7 g/cm³ 0.0001 AU 6.4 days
Styx 5.00 km — — 0.0003 AU 20.2 days
Nix 25 km 2.247 × 10¹⁶ kg 0.88 g/cm³ 0.0003 AU 24.9 days
Kerberos 6.00 km — — 0.0004 AU 32.2 days
Hydra 25 km 2.997 × 10¹⁶ kg 1.21 g/cm³ 0.0004 AU 38.2 days

Sources