Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
How Big Is Pluto?
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History
Images
Pluto
Read Next
Artist's concept of the New Horizons spacecraft as it approaches Pluto and its three moons in summer of 2015.
Christening Pluto’s Moons
Pluto. Crop of asset: 172304/IC code: pluto0010 at 270 degrees. The Changing Faces of Pluto. Most detailed view to date of the entire surface of the dwarf planet Pluto, constructed from multiple NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs 2002-03.
Wee Worlds: Our 5 (Official) Dwarf Planets
Pluto. The Changing Faces of Pluto. Most detailed view to date of the entire surface of the dwarf planet Pluto, as constructed from multiple NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs taken from 2002 to 2003.
10 Important Dates in Pluto History
US Marines firing at Fallujah, Iraq, during the Second Battle of Fallujah in November 2004. Operation Iraqi Freedom, Iraq War.
Timeline of the 2000s
Remarkable new details of Pluto's largest moon Charon are revealed in this image from New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), taken late on July 13, 2015 from a distance of 289,000 miles
Why Is Pluto No Longer a Planet?
Discover
African Americans demonstrating for voting rights in front of the White House as police and others watch, March 12, 1965. One sign reads, "We demand the right to vote everywhere." Voting Rights Act, civil rights.
Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement
Statue of Nostradamus
Nostradamus and His Prophecies
Lake Mead (the impounded Colorado River) at the Hoover Dam. The light-coloured band of rock above the shoreline shows the decrease in water level in the first few years of the 21st century.
6 Lakes That Are Drying Up
Queen Elizabeth II addresses at opening of Parliament. (Date unknown on photo, but may be 1958, the first time the opening of Parliament was filmed.)
All 119 References in “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” Explained
The impeachment trial of Pres. Andrew Johnson, illustration from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, March 28, 1868.
What If the President Is Impeached?
Salem Witch Trials. Photogravure after the painting by Walter McEwen titled - The Witches - circa 1890s.
How Rye Bread May Have Caused the Salem Witch Trials
Estimated battle casualties, Normandy invasion, World War II. WWII, D-Day
Estimated Battle Casualties During the Normandy Invasion and Campaign to Liberate Paris (June–August 1944)
Pluto
Pluto Pluto as observed by the New Horizons spacecraft, July 13, 2015.

How Big Is Pluto?

verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/science/How-Big-Is-Pluto
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: • Article History

Pluto’s diameter, 2,370 km (1,473 miles), is less than half that of Mercury (4,880 km [3,032 miles]) and only about two-thirds the size of Earth’s Moon (3,474 km [2,159 miles]. Pluto is thus significantly smaller than any of the planets in the solar system and more comparable in size to some of the larger moons orbiting the outer planets rather than any of the planets themselves. This diminutive size is one of the reasons why Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet.

Pluto’s size is more typical of objects found in the Kuiper Belt, a region of the solar system beyond Neptune filled with icy remnants from the solar system’s formation. Pluto is one of the largest Kuiper Belt objects.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica