134340 Pluto's 247.3-year orbit around the Sun will carry it to its closest point to the Sun – its perihelion – at a distance of 29.69 AU.
Unlike most of the planets, which follow almost exactly circular orbits around the Sun which only vary in their distance from the Sun by a few percent, 134340 Pluto has a significantly elliptical orbit. Its distance from the Sun varies between 29.69 AU and 49.11 AU – a variation of over 65% – meaning that it receives 63% less heat and light from the Sun at aphelion as compared to perihelion.
Finding 134340 Pluto
134340 Pluto's distance from the Sun doesn't affect its appearance. From Fairfield, at the moment of perihelion it will become visible at around 21:21 (EDT), 36° above your south-western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. It will then sink towards the horizon, setting at 00:56.
A chart of the path of 134340 Pluto across the sky in 1989 can be found here, and a chart of its rising and setting times here.
The position of 134340 Pluto at the moment it passes perihelion will be:
| Object | Right Ascension | Declination | Constellation | Magnitude | Angular Size |
| 134340 Pluto | 15h00m10s | 0°41'S | Libra | 14.5 | 0.0" |
The coordinates above are given in J2000.0.
The sky on 9 Oct 2024
| The sky on 9 October 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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47% 7 days old |
All times shown in EDT.
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Source
The circumstances of this event were computed using the DE430 planetary ephemeris published by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
This event was automatically generated by searching the ephemeris for planetary alignments which are of interest to amateur astronomers, and the text above was generated based on an estimate of your location.
Related news
| 04 May 1989 | – 134340 Pluto at opposition |
| 07 May 1990 | – 134340 Pluto at opposition |
| 10 May 1991 | – 134340 Pluto at opposition |
| 12 May 1992 | – 134340 Pluto at opposition |
Image credit
© NASA/New Horizons