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Pluto

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space Taking 248 years to orbit the Sun, Pluto is the smallest and most distant planet from the Sun. Its diameter is only about two-thirds that of our Moon's. Pluto is sometimes considered a double planet system because its moon, Charon, is about half Pluto's size, making Charon the largest satellite in the solar system in proportion to the size of its planet.

This distant planet is the only one in our solar system yet to be visited by spacecraft, but NASA is exploring the possibility of such a mission.

For more information on Pluto, visit NASA's Solar System Exploration site.

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  Fast Facts - Pluto:

 
Mean Distance from Sun
5,906,376,200 km (3.67 x 109 miles) or 39.48 astronomical units
Diameter
2,390 km (1,485.08 miles)
Volume (Earth = 1)
0.005
Mass
1.29 x 1022 kg (0.00046 x 1027 ounces) or 0.0025 (Earth = 1)
Density
1.1 gm/cm3
Surface gravity
0.066 (Earth = 1)
Rotation period (length of day in Earth days)
6.39 (spins backwards compared to most other planets)
Revolution period (length of year)
248 Earth Years
Mean surface temperature
-215.35 C (-355.63° F)
Natural satellites
Charon
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