Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930 at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. Here's how Pluto won - and lost - its planetary status.

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Jamie Carter is an award-winning reporter who covers the night sky.

because it dictates atmospheric circulation on the dwarf planet. The resulting winds etch Pluto’s face. Nitrogen winds blowing up to 20 miles per hour capture methane ice grains from Pluto’s ...

For 76 years, Pluto was considered the ninth planet of our Solar System ... a distant body of ice and rock in a vast abyss of ...

A blue atmosphere, smooth areas, and youthful mountain ranges - this dwarf planet is full of surprises. When NASA's New Horizons probe flew past Pluto in July 2015, the images it returned astonished ...

A New Horizons image of Pluto and its moon Charon revealed more surprises about the dwarf planet and its orbiting moon. Click on the hand to see why Pluto and its moon have shaken things up.

However, some scientists argue that Pluto should be considered a planet based on geological activity rather than orbital mechanics. NASA’s New Horizons mission revealed ice mountains ...