Pluto rising above Charon. Artist's impression of the planet Pluto above the horizon of its moon, Charon. At 2280km wide, Pluto (pink, top) is the sma

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Pluto rising above Charon. Artist's impression of the planet Pluto above the horizon of its moon, Charon. At 2280km wide, Pluto (pink, top) is the smallest of the nine planets of the solar system. Its surface is covered in nitrogen ice with methane ice as an impurity, which results in the pinkish colour. Pluto may be similar in many respects to Neptune's moon Triton. Pluto's moon Charon is covered mainly by water ice. Pluto's orbit is very eccentric, varying between billion and billion km; for 20 years of its 248-year orbit Pluto is closer to the Sun than Neptune. Pluto was discovered in 1930 by C. Tombaugh, and Charon in 1978 by J. Christy.

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Size: 5429px × 4303px
Photo credit: © Science Photo Library / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: artwork, astronomy, charon, cosmology, dwarf, planet, planetary, pluto, rising, science