PLUTO

Pluto is the smallest planet of all.  It is also the farthest away from the Sun.  It is 3,674,000,000 miles from the Sun.  It has a diameter of 1, 454 miles.  It is the only planet that we have not sent a spacecraft to.  

 Pluto is very small.  It is so small that some scientists think that it may not really be a planet and that it might actually be a comet!  It is also the farthest away from the Sun.  The picture of Pluto is not clear because it is so far away.  It can be seen with an amateur telescope from earth, but you have to know where to look.

Pluto is made up of rocks and ice.  We think it is 70% rock and 30% water.  Its surface is slightly reddish and it has snows made of methane, nitrogen, and carbon monoxide.  It has polar ice caps and large dark spots near its equator.  Pluto does have an atmosphere but we do not know much about it.  We think it is mostly nitrogen.  Pluto's surface temperatures vary between -225 and -210C.

Each day on Pluto lasts 6.39 Earth days. Each year on Pluto takes 247.7 Earth years!  That is a long time! 

Pluto was named after the Roman god of the underworld.

Pluto has one moon that we know of.  It is named Charon and was named after the mythological character who ferried the dead across the River Acheron into Hades.  We think it is covered with water ice.  We do not think its moon, Charon, has an atmosphere.

This is what the symbol for the planet Pluto looks like: