--- title: Pluto Is Larger Than Previously Thought, NASA Says description: The former planet is 1,473 miles in diameter, according to new images from NASA's New Horizons mission. canonical: https://time.com/3955948/pluto-larger-nasa/ author: Jacob Koffler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-13T18:59:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T09:12:16.642Z article:section: Science og:title: Pluto Is Larger Than We Previously Thought og:description: The former planet is 1,473 miles in diameter, according to new images from NASA og:url: https://time.com/3955948/pluto-larger-nasa/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37dceee79ca79681/69885aab0a4a2281a19c51f4/nh-color-pluto-charon.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: nh-color-pluto-charon og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pluto Is Larger Than We Previously Thought twitter:description: The former planet is 1,473 miles in diameter, according to new images from NASA twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37dceee79ca79681/69885aab0a4a2281a19c51f4/nh-color-pluto-charon.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pluto Is Larger Than We Previously Thought ## Video: A Year in Space - Ep.1: Leaving Home [Watch (HLS stream): A Year in Space - Ep.1: Leaving Home](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6ookw4W2.m3u8) (13:31)  _Published 2021-03-11. A Year in Space - Ep.1: Leaving Home_ by [Jacob Koffler](https://time.com/author/jacob-koffler/) ## Jacob Koffler Jul 13, 2015 6:59 PM UTC  NASA's photos show Pluto, right, and its moon Charon, left. NASA's photos show Pluto, right, and its moon Charon, left.NASA-JHUAPL-SWRI by [Jacob Koffler](https://time.com/author/jacob-koffler/) ## Jacob Koffler Jul 13, 2015 6:59 PM UTC It’s still not a planet, but Pluto is [bigger](http://www.nasa.gov/feature/how-big-is-pluto-new-horizons-settles-decades-long-debate) than experts thought. NASA reported on Monday that scientists on their New Horizons Mission have determined the size of Pluto. The former planet is 1,473 miles in diameter, slightly larger than previous estimates, making it the largest known object in the solar system beyond Neptune’s orbit. Pluto’s size has been notoriously difficult to determine since its discovery in 1930 due to what NASA called “complicating factors from its atmosphere.” “We are excited to finally lay this question to rest,” said Bill McKinnon, a scientist on the mission. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3955948/pluto-larger-nasa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3955948/pluto-larger-nasa/"},"headline":"Pluto Is Larger Than We Previously Thought","datePublished":"2015-07-13T18:59:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:12:16.642Z","description":"The former planet is 1,473 miles in diameter, according to new images from NASA's New Horizons mission","url":"https://time.com/3955948/pluto-larger-nasa/","keywords":["Space"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37dceee79ca79681/69885aab0a4a2281a19c51f4/nh-color-pluto-charon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jacob Koffler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jacob-koffler/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37dceee79ca79681/69885aab0a4a2281a19c51f4/nh-color-pluto-charon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"nh-color-pluto-charon","caption":"NASA's photos show Pluto, right, and its moon Charon, left.","creditText":"NASA-JHUAPL-SWRI","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3955948/pluto-larger-nasa/","name":"Pluto Is Larger Than We Previously Thought"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A Year in Space - Ep.1: Leaving Home","description":"A Year in Space - Ep.1: Leaving Home","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/6ookw4W2/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2021-03-11T18:13:57.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6ookw4W2.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3955948/pluto-larger-nasa/","duration":"PT13M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3955948/pluto-larger-nasa/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```