Pluto has captured our fascination since its discovery in 1930. This distant, icy world went from planet status to dwarf planet in 2006, sparking debates that continue today.
Whether you’re preparing for an astronomy test, brushing up on your space knowledge, or simply curious about this fascinating celestial body at the edge of our solar system, this quiz will challenge what you know about Pluto.
Ready to test your knowledge about the most famous dwarf planet? From its discovery to its unique features revealed by NASA’s New Horizons mission, these 60 questions cover everything you need to know about Pluto.
Don’t worry if you get stumped—all answers are provided at the end for quick reference. Let’s see how much you really know about this distant world!
Bing Pluto Quiz Questions
The answers to all questions can be found at the end of this section. Good luck!
- Who discovered Pluto? A) Clyde Tombaugh B) Percival Lowell C) Edwin Hubble D) Carl Sagan
- In what year was Pluto discovered? A) 1910 B) 1930 C) 1950 D) 1970
- Pluto was reclassified from a planet to what in 2006? A) Comet B) Asteroid C) Dwarf Planet D) Moon
- Which organization made the decision to reclassify Pluto? A) NASA B) European Space Agency C) International Astronomical Union D) Royal Astronomical Society
- How many moons does Pluto have? A) None B) 1 C) 3 D) 5
- What is the name of Pluto’s largest moon? A) Hydra B) Nix C) Charon D) Kerberos
- What NASA spacecraft provided the first close-up images of Pluto? A) Voyager 1 B) New Horizons C) Cassini D) Hubble Space Telescope
- When did the New Horizons spacecraft reach Pluto? A) 2005 B) 2010 C) 2015 D) 2020
- How long did it take New Horizons to reach Pluto from Earth? A) 9 months B) 2 years C) 5 years D) 9 years
- What is Pluto primarily made of? A) Rock and metal B) Rock and ice C) Gas and liquid D) Pure ice
- What is the average surface temperature on Pluto? A) -240°C (-400°F) B) -180°C (-292°F) C) -120°C (-184°F) D) -60°C (-76°F)
- How far is Pluto from the Sun at its closest point? A) 2.7 billion miles B) 3.1 billion miles C) 4.4 billion miles D) 5.9 billion miles
- What is the heart-shaped region on Pluto called? A) Tombaugh Regio B) Lowell Basin C) Sputnik Planitia D) Pluto’s Heart
- What is the approximate diameter of Pluto? A) 1,100 miles B) 1,500 miles C) 2,100 miles D) 2,700 miles
- Which planet’s orbit does Pluto sometimes cross? A) Mars B) Jupiter C) Uranus D) Neptune
- What percentage of Earth’s mass is Pluto? A) About 0.01% B) About 0.1% C) About 1% D) About 10%
- What causes Pluto’s reddish color? A) Iron oxide B) Tholins C) Methane ice D) Sulfur compounds
- How long does it take Pluto to complete one orbit around the Sun? A) 88 Earth years B) 165 Earth years C) 248 Earth years D) 329 Earth years
- What is unusual about Pluto’s orbit compared to the planets? A) It’s perfectly circular B) It’s highly elliptical C) It goes clockwise (retrograde) D) It passes through the asteroid belt
- Who named Pluto? A) Clyde Tombaugh B) Percival Lowell C) Venetia Burney D) Albert Einstein
- What is the atmosphere of Pluto primarily composed of? A) Hydrogen and helium B) Carbon dioxide C) Nitrogen D) Methane
- What happens to Pluto’s atmosphere when it moves farther from the Sun? A) It expands B) It freezes and falls to the surface C) It becomes thicker D) Nothing changes
- Compared to Earth’s moon, Pluto is: A) Much larger B) Slightly larger C) About the same size D) Smaller
- What is the gravity on Pluto compared to Earth? A) About 1/15 of Earth’s gravity B) About 1/10 of Earth’s gravity C) About 1/5 of Earth’s gravity D) About 1/2 of Earth’s gravity
- What feature was discovered on Pluto that suggests recent geological activity? A) Volcanoes B) Ice mountains C) Glaciers D) Canyons
- How tall can ice mountains on Pluto get? A) Up to 1,000 feet B) Up to 5,000 feet C) Up to 11,000 feet D) Up to 20,000 feet
- What is the name of the largest known nitrogen glacier on Pluto? A) Sputnik Planitia B) Tombaugh Regio C) Cthulhu Macula D) Tartarus Dorsa
- Which of Pluto’s features is named after the first person to propose a planet beyond Neptune? A) Lowell Regio B) Tombaugh Terra C) Burney Crater D) Sagan Planitia
- What color appears predominant when looking at enhanced color images of Pluto? A) Blue and white B) Red and brown C) Gray and black D) Green and yellow
- What evidence suggests Pluto might have a subsurface ocean? A) Salt deposits on the surface B) Cryovolcanic activity C) Radio signals D) Magnetic field measurements
- How much sunlight does Pluto receive compared to Earth? A) About 1/100 B) About 1/900 C) About 1/1,600 D) About 1/2,500
- Which dwarf planet is larger than Pluto? A) Eris B) Ceres C) Haumea D) Makemake
- What mathematical calculation helped predict Pluto’s existence? A) Orbital resonance B) Perturbations in Neptune’s orbit C) Gravitational lensing D) Stellar occultation
- What was Pluto originally called immediately after its discovery? A) Planet X B) Minerva C) Cronus D) Yuggoth
- What surprising fact did New Horizons reveal about Pluto’s atmosphere? A) It has clouds B) It’s thicker than expected C) It has layers of haze extending very high D) It contains oxygen
- What is special about the rotation of Pluto and Charon? A) They rotate in opposite directions B) They’re tidally locked to each other C) They rotate extremely quickly D) Their rotation axes are perpendicular
- How long does a day on Pluto last? A) About 6 Earth days B) About 12 Earth days C) About 6.4 Earth days D) About 24 Earth hours
- Which planetary scientist was a strong advocate for the New Horizons mission? A) Alan Stern B) Neil deGrasse Tyson C) Mike Brown D) Brian Cox
- What is the dark, reddish region near Pluto’s equator called? A) Mordor Macula B) Cthulhu Macula C) Balrog Planitia D) Tartarus Region
- What did New Horizons discover about Pluto’s surface that surprised scientists? A) Active sand dunes B) Frozen lakes of liquid nitrogen C) Large impact craters D) Cellular terrain patterns
- Which of Pluto’s moons was discovered most recently? A) Hydra B) Kerberos C) Styx D) Nix
- What was the primary instrument used to discover Pluto? A) Radio telescope B) Blink comparator C) Spectrograph D) Gravitometer
- What planet was Pluto named after? A) The Roman god of wealth B) The Greek god of death C) The Roman god of the underworld D) The Greek god of time
- What phenomenon do Pluto and Neptune exhibit in their orbits? A) Gravitational repulsion B) Orbital resonance C) Orbital decay D) Retrograde motion
- When viewed from Pluto, how large does the Sun appear compared to from Earth? A) About the same size as Venus from Earth B) Like a very bright star C) About the size of a dime held at arm’s length D) Still the largest object in the sky
- What is the estimated age of Pluto’s surface in some regions? A) 10 million years B) 100 million years C) 1 billion years D) 4 billion years
- What type of ice makes up the mountains on Pluto? A) Water ice B) Carbon dioxide ice C) Methane ice D) Ammonia ice
- What distinguishes Nix and Hydra from Pluto’s other small moons? A) They’re perfectly spherical B) They have atmospheres C) They were the first small moons discovered D) They orbit in the opposite direction
- How does a year on Pluto compare to a human lifetime? A) A Pluto year is about twice a human lifetime B) A Pluto year is about three times a human lifetime C) A Pluto year equals an average human lifetime D) A human can experience multiple Pluto years
- What did scientists determine about the possibility of rings around Pluto? A) Pluto has several thin, dusty rings B) Pluto has one major dense ring C) New Horizons found no evidence of significant rings D) Pluto’s rings come and go seasonally
- What is the state of water ice on Pluto? A) It acts like bedrock due to the temperature B) It exists only as vapor in the atmosphere C) It’s entirely subsurface D) It regularly melts during Pluto’s summer
- Why does Pluto have such an unusual orbit? A) Impact with another large body B) Gravitational influence from passing stars C) Neptune’s gravitational influence D) Solar wind pressure
- What feature on Pluto is named after the spacecraft that studied it? A) New Horizons Crater B) Voyager Terra C) Tombaugh Regio D) Stern Mountains
- What is unusual about the surfaces of Pluto and Charon? A) They share surface material B) They have completely different compositions C) Both have active volcanoes D) Both have liquid water lakes
- How did Clyde Tombaugh discover Pluto? A) Mathematical calculations B) Radio signal detection C) Comparing photographic plates D) Spectroscopic analysis
- What is the status of future missions to Pluto? A) New Horizons II is already on its way B) A Pluto orbiter is scheduled for 2026 C) A lander mission is being developed D) No specific followup missions are currently funded
- What causes the color variations on Pluto’s surface? A) Different minerals B) Various ices and complex organic compounds C) Varying exposure to solar radiation D) All of the above
- What happens to Pluto’s atmosphere when it’s closest to the Sun? A) It becomes toxic B) It expands significantly C) It turns into a liquid D) It disappears completely
- What is a “plutoid”? A) Any object beyond Neptune B) A dwarf planet beyond Neptune’s orbit C) A moon of Pluto D) A class of asteroids named after Pluto
- What was named after Pluto before Pluto itself was discovered? A) A type of radioactive element B) A species of deep-sea fish C) A chemical element D) Nothing
Bing Pluto Quiz Answers
- A) Clyde Tombaugh
- B) 1930
- C) Dwarf Planet
- C) International Astronomical Union
- D) 5
- C) Charon
- B) New Horizons
- C) 2015
- D) 9 years
- B) Rock and ice
- A) -240°C (-400°F)
- B) 3.1 billion miles
- A) Tombaugh Regio
- B) 1,500 miles
- D) Neptune
- A) About 0.01%
- B) Tholins
- C) 248 Earth years
- B) It’s highly elliptical
- C) Venetia Burney
- C) Nitrogen
- B) It freezes and falls to the surface
- D) Smaller
- A) About 1/15 of Earth’s gravity
- B) Ice mountains
- C) Up to 11,000 feet
- A) Sputnik Planitia
- A) Lowell Regio
- B) Red and brown
- B) Cryovolcanic activity
- C) About 1/1,600
- A) Eris
- B) Perturbations in Neptune’s orbit
- A) Planet X
- C) It has layers of haze extending very high
- B) They’re tidally locked to each other
- C) About 6.4 Earth days
- A) Alan Stern
- B) Cthulhu Macula
- D) Cellular terrain patterns
- C) Styx
- B) Blink comparator
- C) The Roman god of the underworld
- B) Orbital resonance
- B) Like a very bright star
- B) 100 million years
- A) Water ice
- C) They were the first small moons discovered
- B) A Pluto year is about three times a human lifetime
- C) New Horizons found no evidence of significant rings
- A) It acts like bedrock due to the temperature
- C) Neptune’s gravitational influence
- C) Tombaugh Regio
- B) They have completely different compositions
- C) Comparing photographic plates
- D) No specific followup missions are currently funded
- D) All of the above
- B) It expands significantly
- B) A dwarf planet beyond Neptune’s orbit
- C) A chemical element
Pluto continues to fascinate astronomers and space enthusiasts alike. This distant world may have lost its planetary status, but it gained something perhaps more valuable—detailed scientific attention.
The New Horizons mission transformed Pluto from a fuzzy dot in telescopes to a complex, beautiful world with mountains, glaciers, and a surprisingly active surface. As technology advances, future missions may reveal even more secrets about this remarkable dwarf planet at the edge of our solar system.
Until then, Pluto remains one of the most interesting objects in our cosmic neighborhood, challenging our understanding of what makes a planet and how our solar system formed.