Pluto | Astronomy.com

A detailed, full-disk view of a celestial body fills almost the entire frame against a solid black background. The textured surface displays a patchwork of distinct colors, featuring a large, smooth, light cream-colored region in the lower center bordered by heavily cratered, deep rust-red terrain to the left and pale bluish-grey areas near the top and right. Soft lighting across the sphere highlights fine surface crevices and crater rims, creating gentle shadows near the lower-right edge.

Today in the History of Astronomy

Aug. 24, 2006: Pluto is demoted

A highly pixelated, black-and-white image features a single blurry object floating against a pitch-black background. The subject appears to have two connected sections: a larger, brighter rounded shape on the left and a smaller, dimmer lobe extending to the right. The contrast is sharp between the solid black void and the glowing, blocky white patches of the central object.

Solar System, Today in the History of Astronomy

June 28, 2011: Kerberos is discovered

Today in the History of Astronomy

Feb 18, 1930: Discovery of Pluto

Today in the History of Astronomy

Feb. 4, 1906: The birth of Clyde Tombaugh

Today in the History of Astronomy

Jan. 5, 2005: Eris is discovered

Robotic Spaceflight, Solar System

Did Pluto’s gravity affect the trajectory of New Horizons when it flew past?

Pluto may have ‘kissed’ Charon to capture it

Pluto and Charon

JWST reveals surprising surface chemistry is occurring on Pluto’s moon Charon

Composite image of Pluto on several days in 2023

Can you view Pluto in a backyard telescope?

A color image of Pluto shows its heart-shaped section.

Science, Solar System

Is Pluto a planet? It depends.

Pluto, as imaged by New Horizons

A collision with something the size of Arizona could have formed half of Pluto’s ‘heart’

Owen Gingerich, historian of astronomy, passes away