| Mean distance from Sun: | 63.33 Astronomical Units 5,890,000,000 km |
|---|---|
| Diameter: | 1,500 km ? |
| Mass: | ? |
| Density: | 0.5 grams per cubic centimeter ? |
| Surface temperature: | Pretty darn cold! |
| Orbital period: | 247 years |
| Rotational period: | 6 days, 9 hours ? |
Because of its great distance and small size, very little is known about this small chunk of ice. We're not even sure that it's a chunck of ice. We can only make educated guesses about the mass and density of the planet. We do know that it has one small moon, Charon. However small it may seem though, the is nearly one quarter the size of Pluto, a rather unique ratio in this solar system. To date no spacecraft have flown close enough to Pluto to send back any enlightening bits of data. The Pioneer, Mariner, and Voyager spacecraft all left the solar system without passing by it. However, it is possible that in the future a probe will be launched specifically to explore Pluto. This is only a possibility, however.
Through massive telescopes, Pluto is still but a bland dot, but, as some of the images show, we can observe Pluto's interaction with Charon.