Once the quirky underdog of our solar system, Pluto held planetary status until 2006, when it got a cosmic demotion that still stings space fans. Discovered in 1930, Pluto was the ninth planet for ...

In this except from "Space Camp," a special series from NPR science podcast Short Wave, host Regina Barber delves into Pluto's demotion from planet to dwarf planet. It's not exactly news to say that ...

Earth has a newly-discovered neighbor in the solar system. But the heavenly body – possibly a dwarf planet à la Pluto – isn't a frequent visitor. Located beyond Neptune, its extreme orbit ...

Since Pluto is located so far from the sun, it takes around 248 Earth years for Pluto to orbit the sun. Pluto's orbit around the sun is not only a very long journey, it's also elliptical, resembling a ...

This close up look at Pluto and Charon, taken as part of the mission's latest optical navigation ("OpNav") campaign from Jan. 25-31, 2015, comes from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on ...

For the first time since Pluto was demoted, the idea of a true ninth planet is edging from speculation toward something ...

For billions of years, Pluto and its largest moon Charon have been facing each other in a mutual tidal lock. Since it’s about half the size of Pluto, the moon and its planet are sometimes referred to ...

Using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to view the ninth planet in our solar system, astronomers discovered Pluto may have not one, but three moons. If confirmed, the discovery of the two new moons could ...

University of Maryland astronomers Silvia Protopapa and Douglas Hamilton are among the authors of the first published paper from the New Horizons flyby, which appears in the Oct. 16, 2015, issue of ...