Pluto, once considered the ninth planet, is now classified as a dwarf planet, residing in the distant and mysterious region known as the Kuiper Belt. This icy world orbits the Sun far beyond Neptune, about 4.7 billion kilometers (nearly 3 billion miles) away, making it one of the coldest places in our solar system. Pluto is small—only about two-thirds the size of Earth’s Moon—but it has a fascinating and complex surface covered with frozen nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide.

Pluto’s orbit is unusual: it’s highly elliptical and tilted compared to the planets, sometimes bringing it closer to the Sun than Neptune. Its surface features include vast plains, towering ice mountains, and regions covered in bright and dark patches, revealing a surprising diversity of geology. One of Pluto’s most intriguing features is its heart-shaped glacier, informally called Tombaugh Regio, named after Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto in 1930.

In 2015, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew past Pluto, providing humanity with the first close-up images and detailed information about this distant world. The mission revealed a surprisingly active planet with a thin atmosphere, seasonal changes, and even hints of possible underground oceans. Pluto also has five known moons, the largest being Charon, which is so big that Pluto and Charon actually orbit each other like a double planet system.

Though no longer officially a planet, Pluto remains a captivating object of study, representing the frontier of our solar system and offering clues about the formation and evolution of distant icy bodies. Its discovery and exploration continue to inspire curiosity about the farthest reaches of our cosmic neighborhood.