Pluto is once again (since July 2015) the largest known dwarf planet and the ninth most massive body directly orbiting the Sun. Despite its previous status as a full fledged planet Pluto is just over half the size of our Moon. This fact and the discovery of Eris, at the time thought to be larger than Pluto and farther out in the Solar System, led to its reclassification as a Dwarf Planet in 2006.

Moons

New Horizons

And here it is, as promised, the best image we will have of Pluto for a very long time. Nasa's New Horizons spacecraft has passed by Pluto and is now heading to the outer reaches of the Solar System.

Hubble

This is the first view of Pluto that resolves to a disc with surface features. Each pixel in the image represents an area about the size of Ireland.

Lowell Astrograph

American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh has announced the discovery of the ninth planet in our Solar System, named Pluto, using the 33 cm astrograph (a telescope designed for photography only) at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona while searching for the predicted "Planet X" as it was called.

In a fitting tribute, Clyde Tombaugh's ashes are along for the ride onboard the New Horizons spacecraft.

Dwarf Planets