New Horizons finds that Pluto is bigger, icier than previously thought

Pluto.
(Image credit: Twitter.com/NewScientist)

It turns out that Pluto isn't as small as scientists thought: NASA's New Horizons probe has sent imagery back to Earth showing that the planet's diameter is 1,473 miles (plus or minus 12.4 miles), making it 30 miles wider than the dwarf planet Eris, whose discovery caused Pluto’s demotion from being a full-fledged planet in 2006.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.