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Quick & curious · Space

Pluto hasn't finished one lap since it was discovered.

It was found in 1930, and a Pluto year lasts about 248 Earth years. It completes its first full lap since then in 2178.

Pluto in colour: a beige-brown sphere with a bright, heart-shaped area
Photo: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute · Public domain · Original

2178first full orbit since its discovery

The story behind it

Pluto hasn't gone round the Sun even once since it was discovered.

Clyde Tombaugh found it on 18 February 1930. Pluto needs 248 years for one lap, on an oval path between 30 and 49.3 astronomical units from the Sun. The name was suggested by an eleven-year-old girl from Oxford: Venetia Burney.

Sources

Every statement in this discovery is backed by one of these sources and was checked before publication.

  1. Wikipedia: Pluto (accessed 2026-10-07)
  2. NASA Science: Pluto: Facts (accessed 2026-10-07)

Fits with this

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    Image: NASA · Public domain

  • Nº 002 · Space · 50 sec

    Why is a day on Venus longer than its year?

    It spins so slowly that it circles the Sun faster than it turns once.

    Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech · Public domain