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The Hardest Pluto Test You'll Take Today

The International Astronomical Union [demoted Pluto from its planet status](http://www.iau.org/public/themes/pluto/) back in 2006. Today it's considered a [dwarf planet](https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-pluto-k4.html), which is a rocky or icy body that it orbits the sun. Unlike planets, dwarf planets are unable to [clear objects](https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-pluto-k4.html) out of their orbital paths, though the definition has been a [bit controversial](http://www.universetoday.com/85749/is-the-moon-a-planet/).

Pluto is a bit wonky: Its orbit is shaped like _more_ of an oval than other planets' more rotund trajectories. It's also tilted [17 degrees](https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-pluto-k4.html) above the plane where the eight planets orbit.

Just beyond Neptune's orbit, the [Kuiper Belt](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=KBOs) (pronounced KY-per) is a doughnut-shaped home to icy celestial objects like Pluto and other dwarf planets. The Oort Cloud is even further, and Andromeda is a neighboring galaxy.

An astronomer discovered Pluto in 1930, but an [11-year-old girl from England](http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/transcript_pluto_naming_podcast.html) named it.

Pluto has [five known moons](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Display=Sats&Object=Pluto): Charon, Hydra, Nix, Styx, and Kerberos. Charon is so close to Pluto that they're sometimes considered a [double-planet system](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Pluto).

Pluto's surface area is [16.7 million square kilometers](http://www.universetoday.com/39565/how-big-is-pluto/) (sq km), which is closest to Russia's 17.1 million sq km. That's about 3% the surface area of Earth! If you're curious, Texas is around 700,000 sq km, and [the moon](http://www.space.com/18135-how-big-is-the-moon.html) comes in at about 38 million sq km.

Gravity on Pluto is about 7% that on Earth, so you'd weigh about [7 pounds](https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-pluto-k4.html).

A celestial body farther out than Neptune that orbits the sun is called a plutoid [(full definition here)](http://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau0804/), and yes, Pluto is one of them!

Nope, not even once. Pluto's [orbital period](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=pluto+orbital+period) is about 248 Earth years. It was discovered in 1930 and demoted a mere [76 years](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Pluto) later. ( _The Price is Right_ sad trombone here.)

Some of the questions may have tripped you up, but who gives a flying poo. When you're in space, it's not the pop quiz that matters: It's how you handle the final frontier's minefield of black holes and mystery creatures. Who knows, maybe you'll even find a worm hole and end up in an alternate dimension where Pluto is still clinging to its title and ice cream is a vegetable. At least now you can ace that Pluto pub trivia question when it comes up.

You're a resilient space explorer!

Whether you believe Pluto is a planet or was rightfully demoted, you're a lean, mean space-knowledge machine. You're not afraid to stick your head out the spaceship and feel the cool breeze of space travel, even if it means getting some space bugs in your face while in warp speed. To you, planets or plutoids are trivial compared to the majesty of the universe, which you like getting lost in sometimes because it makes problems feel smaller — or to just feel that sweet caress of the cosmos.

You're a space enthusiast!

You know your way around the universe, which will come in extremely handy if an apocalypse strikes. Whether it was your exposure to _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_ or your natural absorption of knowledge like a galactic sponge, you slayed that quiz like a cake cut with a sword.

You are a space cadet!

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The Hardest Pluto Test You'll Take Today

Here’s Our First Close-Up Photo Of Pluto’s Surface

The Hardest Pluto Test You'll Take Today

Here’s Our First Close-Up Photo Of Pluto’s Surface

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