Pluto for Kids
A dwarf planet
Pluto is a dwarf planet far past Neptune. Its day lasts 6.4 Earth days. Its year lasts 248 Earth years. That is from NASA's planetary fact sheet, checked 29 October 2026. A scale there reads 0.063 times as much as on Earth. Read about it at three levels: Little, Middle and Big, and make your own Space Card.
Pluto is a tiny, icy world far away. It is called a dwarf planet. It has a big heart-shaped patch on it.
Pluto was called the ninth planet until 2006, when astronomers named a new group, dwarf planets, and put Pluto in it. A spacecraft called New Horizons flew by in 2015 and showed us its icy heart. A year on Pluto lasts 248 Earth years.
Pluto is smaller than Earth's Moon and has five moons, the biggest named Charon. In 2006 the International Astronomical Union decided a planet must clear its path of other objects, and Pluto shares its zone with many icy bodies, so it became a dwarf planet.
Pluto has not gone round the Sun once since it was found in 1930.
Pluto in numbers
| Across | 2,376 km |
|---|---|
| From the Sun | 5906.4 million km |
| A day | 6.4 Earth days |
| A year | 248 Earth years |
| Pull of gravity | 0.063 times Earth's |
| Average temperature | -225 °C |
| Moons | 5 |
Source: NASA planetary fact sheet, checked 29 October 2026.
How big is Pluto?
Pluto is 2,376 kilometers across, 19 out of every 100 parts of Earth's width. Pluto is 5.91 billion kilometers from the Sun, on average.
How hot or cold is Pluto?
Pluto averages -225 degrees Celsius, far colder than any freezer on Earth.
Does Pluto have moons?
Pluto has 5 moons by NASA's count, and the number can grow as telescopes find more.
Can I see Pluto tonight?
Not with your eyes. It is far too faint; you need a telescope and a map. Sky Tonight gives your own times from a ZIP.
How much would I weigh on Pluto?
A child who weighs 80 pounds on Earth would read 5 pounds on Pluto. That is a game number: it only shows how hard Pluto pulls compared with Earth. Make your own Space Card to guess first and see all eleven worlds.