If you teleported from Earth to Pluto right now, almost nothing would be the same. The Sun would shrink to a bright star. The temperature would drop to −229 °C. You'd weigh about 6 percent of what you weigh on Earth. And one day would last almost a week. Let's put the two worlds side by side and see exactly what makes them so different.
Pluto is roughly 5 times smaller than Earth, 40 times further from the Sun, and has 6% of Earth's gravity. A day on Pluto is 6.4 Earth days. A year on Pluto is 248 Earth years. Earth has 1 moon; Pluto has 5. Earth has life; Pluto, as far as we know, doesn't.
The Side-by-Side Table
| Property | Earth | Pluto |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Planet (rocky) | Dwarf planet (icy) |
| Diameter | 12,742 km | 2,377 km |
| Distance from Sun (average) | 150 million km | 5.9 billion km |
| Day length | 24 hours | 6.4 Earth days (153 h) |
| Year length | 365.25 days | 248 Earth years |
| Surface temperature | ~15 °C avg | −229 °C avg |
| Atmosphere | Mostly nitrogen + oxygen | Very thin nitrogen |
| Gravity | 1.0 g | 0.063 g (6.3% of Earth's) |
| Moons | 1 (the Moon) | 5 (Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos, Hydra) |
| Life | Yes, lots | None known |
Size — Pluto Is Smaller Than the Moon
Earth is 12,742 km across. Pluto is 2,377 km across. That makes Earth about five times wider than Pluto. To picture it: if Earth was the size of a basketball, Pluto would be about the size of a golf ball.
Even more surprising — Pluto is smaller than Earth's Moon. Our Moon is 3,474 km across. Pluto is smaller still. In fact, Pluto is smaller than seven moons in the solar system, including Jupiter's Ganymede, Saturn's Titan, Jupiter's Callisto, Jupiter's Io, our Moon, Jupiter's Europa and Neptune's Triton.
Distance — Pluto Is 40 Times Further Out
Earth is 150 million km from the Sun. Pluto is, on average, 5.9 billion km from the Sun — about 40 times further away. Light from the Sun takes 8 minutes to reach Earth. It takes about 5 hours to reach Pluto.
If you tried to drive a car at motorway speeds from Earth to Pluto in a straight line, the trip would take you 6,293 years. By passenger jet, 600 years. NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, the fastest ever launched from Earth, did the journey in 9 years and 5 months.
Gravity — You'd Weigh 6% as Much
Earth's gravity is what holds you firmly on the ground. Pluto's gravity is much weaker — only 6.3% of Earth's. That means everything weighs much less on Pluto.
🧮 Pluto Weight Calculator
Enter your weight on Earth to find out what you'd weigh on Pluto:
The Jumping Trick
Lower gravity means you can jump much higher. On Pluto, if you crouched and jumped, you'd go about six times higher than you can on Earth. A typical kid can jump maybe 30 cm vertically on Earth; on Pluto you'd clear nearly 2 metres — high enough to dunk a basketball without even trying.
Time — A Pluto Day Is Almost a Week
A day on Earth is 24 hours. A day on Pluto — one full spin around — is 6.4 Earth days, or 153 hours. Sunrise-to-sunrise on Pluto would feel endless. Almost a whole school week of dark would pass between one dawn and the next. More on a day and year on Pluto.
A Year on Pluto Is a Lifetime on Earth
Earth takes 365 days to orbit the Sun. Pluto takes 248 Earth years. A child celebrating their 9th birthday today on Earth would have to live until they were 257 to celebrate their first Pluto birthday. Nobody has ever lived a single Pluto year. Nobody ever will.
Temperature — Pluto Is 240 Degrees Colder
Earth's average temperature is about 15 °C. Pluto's average is −229 °C. That is 244 degrees colder. The coldest place ever measured on Earth was −89 °C in Antarctica, and that is positively warm compared to Pluto.
Atmosphere — One Breathable, One Definitely Not
Earth's air is a mixture of nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%) plus a few trace gases. It's what every breathing creature on Earth lives on. Pluto's atmosphere is mostly nitrogen too — but with no oxygen at all, and it is about 100,000 times thinner than Earth's. You couldn't breathe it. More on Pluto's atmosphere.
On Earth, the Sun is a giant yellow disc dominating the daytime sky. On Pluto, the Sun would look like a very bright star — about 1,000 times dimmer than on Earth. You could still read a book in it, just barely. Daytime would feel like twilight on Earth.
Can Humans Live on Pluto?
No. The temperature alone would kill you in seconds. The air is so thin you couldn't breathe it. There is no liquid water on the surface, no oxygen, no soil, no plants. Even with future technology, Pluto would be one of the very hardest places in the solar system to settle.
But there might be one hope. Some scientists think a slushy ocean of liquid water may exist deep beneath Pluto's icy surface, kept warm by heat from Pluto's rocky core. If the ocean exists, it would be one of the most distant places in the solar system where life could theoretically survive. More on Pluto's surface.
Find out about your Pluto birthday, the heart of ice on Pluto's surface, or jump back to the main Pluto facts page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big is Pluto compared to Earth?
Earth is about 5 times wider than Pluto. Earth is 12,742 km across; Pluto is 2,377 km across. To picture it: if Earth was a basketball, Pluto would be roughly the size of a golf ball. Pluto is also smaller than Earth's Moon.
How much would I weigh on Pluto?
On Pluto you'd weigh about 6.3% of your Earth weight. A kid who weighs 45 kg (100 lb) on Earth would weigh just 3 kg (6 lb) on Pluto. Lower gravity also means you could jump about 6 times higher than on Earth.
How far is Pluto from Earth?
Pluto's distance from Earth changes a lot as both worlds orbit the Sun, but on average Pluto is about 5.5 billion km from Earth. Light takes about 5 hours to reach Earth from Pluto. NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, the fastest ever launched, took 9 years and 5 months to get there.
How long is a day on Pluto compared to Earth?
A day on Pluto lasts 6.4 Earth days, or 153 hours. That's almost a whole week between one sunrise and the next. Pluto also spins backwards compared to Earth, like Venus and Uranus.
Can humans live on Pluto?
No. Pluto's average temperature is −229 °C, the atmosphere is too thin to breathe (about 100,000 times thinner than Earth's), there is no oxygen, no liquid water on the surface, and sunlight is so weak that midday on Pluto is as bright as twilight on Earth.