Pluto

Moon meets Mars, meteors light up the sky: 8 stunning skywatching events this July

July 03, 2025 12:46 pm

From Mercury’s peak visibility to the Southern delta Aquariids meteor shower, July’s skywatching lineup promises an array of celestial events.

The Third Edit: In Pluto and Charon’s pairing, a love story and a reminder

January 08, 2025 6:59 am

The newfound understanding of Pluto's formative years is a reminder that in science as in life, change is messy, complicated — and inevitable

The controversial story of Pluto, discovered on this day in 1930

February 19, 2023 12:50 pm

Currently classified as a dwarf planet, Pluto was discovered by astronomer Clyde W Tombaugh on February 18, 1930, at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona. Its status as a planet really fell into jeopardy from 1992 onwards, when the Kuiper Belt was discovered. We take a look.

A science teacher explains: Why Pluto, now a dwarf planet, remains a complex mystery

March 31, 2022 8:07 pm

The word “planet" has been redefined over the years since it was first coined centuries ago by ancient Greeks.

Pluto to be reinstated as a planet? An astrophysicist explains the controversy that refuses to die

January 13, 2022 5:39 pm

What is a planet and why can’t Pluto be one? And does the debate have anything to do with an American discovering Pluto? All your questions answered.

Pluto a planet again? new NASA chief certainly thinks so

August 29, 2019 8:26 am

The newly appointed NASA administrator has announced that Pluto is a planet again and if you are one of those who root for Pluto, you might not like his reasoning behind the statement.

A crater on Pluto got named after this India-born scientist

August 25, 2019 8:09 am

International Astronomical Union (IAU) named a crater after India-born scientist Bishun Khare earlier this month.

Pluto was erroneously rejected as a planet: Scientists

September 11, 2018 2:58 pm

As per the definition, Pluto does not meet the criteria, since Neptune's gravity influences it, and Pluto shares its orbit with frozen gases and objects in the Kuiper belt.

Pluto may have liquid water oceans beneath icy surface: NASA

December 01, 2017 8:16 pm

A study by NASA has shown that under their icy surfaces, Trans-Neptunian objects could host life in liquid water oceans lying underneath.

Scientists decode mystery of Pluto's 'bladed terrain'

September 27, 2017 7:36 pm

Shedding light on mysterious formations resembling knife blades of ice on Pluto, scientists have found that the "bladed terrain" is made almost entirely of methane ice.

NASA releases new mind-blowing pictures of Pluto, Charon and Hydra

July 16, 2015 9:24 am

The US is now the only nation to visit every planet in the solar system. Pluto was No. 9 in the lineup when New Horizons left Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Jan. 19, 2006

NASA New Horizons will fly past Pluto today: All you need to know

July 14, 2015 2:12 pm

At 5:19 pm IST on July 14 NASA's New Horizons will zip past Pluto at 30,800 miles per hour (49,600 kilometers per hour), with a suite of seven science instruments busily gathering data.

Historic Encounter With Pluto: New Horizons Closes In

July 23, 2015 11:32 am