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Pluto was once considered to be the 9th planet from
the Sun. In 2006, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet because of its small size. This picture shows Pluto's size
(the smaller planet) in comparison to the Earth.
Pluto is a relatively recent discovery. It was
not discovered until 1930. Pluto is about one-fifth the size of Earth. About the size
of the Earth's moon.
Pluto is quite different from the other distant
planets like Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus. It is not a gas
planet. It is made of mostly rock and ice.
Pluto is 5.9 billion kilometers from the Sun, and
takes over 247 years to go once around the Sun. Although
Pluto is usually the farthest from the Sun, its orbit is
very elongated. At times, it is closer to the Sun than
Neptune.
Like Neptune, Pluto is too far away to learn much
about it.
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