Our Planets Found: Pluto

When found:
February 18, 1930.

By who:
Clyde Tombaugh.

Description:
Pluto is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt, icy and rocky, with a thin atmosphere, five moons, and a heart-shaped feature on its surface.

Distance from Earth:
Closest distance: approximately 2.7 billion miles.

Length of Year & Day:
Year: 90,560 Earth days (about 248 years).
Day: 153.3 hours (about 6.4 days).

Interesting fact:
Pluto and its largest moon Charon are tidally locked, always showing the same face to each other, like cosmic dance partners.

Like its Finder:
Like Clyde Tombaugh, a self-taught astronomer from a farming background who built his own telescopes, Pluto is a small, distant world that punched above its weight to capture our imagination despite its size.