This is the Web Edition of "A Trip Into Space", a Coimbra-based electronic book on space science. Both the texts and the photos are by courtesy of National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
| This is the Web Edition of "A Trip Into Space", a Coimbra-based electronic book on space science. Both the texts and the photos are by courtesy of National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
|
A Trip Into Space  Fact Sheets Pluto Fact Sheet |
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| See also: Notes On The Fact Sheets |   |
Pluto Earth Ratio (Pluto/Earth)
Mass (1024 kg) 0.0125 5.9736 0.0021
Volume (1010 km3) 0.715 108.321 0.0066
Equatorial radius (km) 1195 6378.1 0.187
Polar radius (km) 1195 6356.8 0.180
Volumetric mean radius (km) 1195 6371.0 0.178
Ellipticity (Flattening) 0.0000 0.00335 0.0
Mean density (kg/m3) 1750 5515 0.317
Surface gravity (m/s2) 0.58 9.78 0.059
Escape velocity (km/s) 1.1 11.19 0.0983
GM (x 106 km3/s2) 0.00083 0.3986 0.0021
Bond albedo 0.145 0.385 0.377
Visual geometric albedo 0.3 0.367 0.817
Visual magnitude V(1,0) -1.0 -3.86 -
Solar irradiance (W/m2) 0.89 1367.6 0.0007
Black-body temperature (K) 42.7 247.3 0.1653
Pluto Earth Ratio (Pluto/Earth)
Semimajor axis (106 km) 5869.66 149.60 39.236
Sidereal orbit period (days) 90,465 365.256 247.68
Tropical orbit period (days) 90,588 365.242 248.02
Perihelion (106 km) 4434.99 147.09 30.152
Aphelion (106 km) 7304.33 152.10 48.023
Synodic period (days) 366.73 - -
Mean orbital velocity (km/s) 4.72 29.78 0.158
Max. orbital velocity (km/s) 6.10 30.29 0.201
Min. orbital velocity (km/s) 3.71 29.29 0.127
Orbit inclination (deg) 17.16 0.000 -
Orbit eccentricity 0.2444 0.0167 14.635
Sidereal rotation period (hrs) -153.2928 23.9345 6.405
Obliquity to orbit (deg) 122.53 23.45 (2.451)
Discoverer: Clyde Tombaugh
Discovery Date: 18 February 1930
Distance from Earth
Minimum (106 km) 4293.7
Maximum (106 km) 7533.3
Apparent diameter from Earth
Maximum (seconds of arc) 0.11
Minimum (seconds of arc) 0.06
Mean values at opposition from Earth
Distance from Earth (106 km) 5750.54
Apparent diameter (seconds of arc) 0.08
Apparent visual magnitude 15.1
Semimajor axis (AU) 39.48168677 Orbital eccentricity 0.24880766 Orbital inclination (deg) 17.14175 Longitude of ascending node (deg) 110.30347 Longitude of perihelion (deg) 224.06676 Mean longitude (deg) 238.92881 On 11 February 1999 at 11:22 UT (6:22 a.m. EST), Pluto passed Neptune as the furthest planet from the Sun once again and will remain so until 5 April 2231.
Surface Pressure: ~3 microbar Average temperature: ~50 K Scale height: ~60 km Mean molecular weight: ~16-25 g/mole Atmospheric composition: Methane (CH4), Nitrogen (N2)
Mean distance from Pluto (km) 19,600 Sidereal orbit period (days) 6.38725 Sidereal rotation period (days) 6.38725 Orbital inclination to Pluto (deg) 0.0 Orbital eccentricity 0.0 Equatorial radius (km) 593 Mass (1021 kg) 1.9 Mean density (kg/m3) 2000 Surface gravity (m/s2) 0.21 Escape velocity (km/s) 0.58 Albedo 0.5 Apparent visual magnitude 16.8
Last Update: 2004-Nov-27