When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute ...
Once the quirky underdog of our solar system, Pluto held planetary status until 2006, when it got a cosmic demotion that still stings space fans. Discovered in 1930, Pluto was the ninth planet for ...
(Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated how far Pluto is from the sun. The correct number is 3.7 billion miles.) What was discovered in Flagstaff, Arizona, and killed off in Prague? If ...
The heart's brightness arises from sunlight reflection, while red patches, formed by tholins, showcase Pluto's atmospheric ...
Pluto, once considered the ninth planet, was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006 because it shares its orbital path with other objects. Despite its demotion, this distant world continues to ...
Anyone still smarting over Pluto's demotion to dwarf planet has a reason to perk up. There's some evidence that the planetoid didn't form through the standard process and may instead be the remains of ...
Frankly, we don’t keep up much with Pluto and its status as a planet or non-planet. It’s kind of like when, as a young altar boy, the Catholic Church demoted a bunch of saints. We just rolled with the ...