Pluto is smaller than Russia, really
Here's a quick look at how these two celestial bodies stack up size-wise
Imagine taking a road trip from New York to California
Which celestial body has a surface area smaller than the country of Russia?
- Here's a quick look at how these two celestial bodies stack up size-wise
- Despite its planetary status for decades, Pluto is essentially a speck of ice.
- While Pluto is smaller than a single nation on Earth, its largest moon, Charon, is half the size of the planet itself.
Pluto is slightly larger than Russia, with a surface area of 6.8 million square miles compared to Russia's 6.6 million. The dwarf planet is just a bit bigger than the Russian Federation, which stretches across 6.6 million square miles.
Pluto is so narrow that it could fit comfortably within the borders of the United States. If you drove a car from the East Coast to the West Coast, you would travel further than the distance across Pluto's diameter.
Despite its planetary status for decades, Pluto is essentially a speck of ice. Its mass is so low that it accounts for only 0.07 percent of the total mass of the objects in its orbital path. Gravity holds it in a sphere, but its total real estate is smaller than the landmass of South America.
While Pluto is smaller than a single nation on Earth, its largest moon, Charon, is half the size of the planet itself. This creates a gravitational tug-of-war that makes the two bodies dance around a point in empty space, technically making them a double-planet system.
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