# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DSFsKUPkp1o
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/37813161-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/dc81369b93.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-12-10T16:02:01.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

If you’re cold, they’re cold ❄️ well actually, they’re always cold

You’re looking at an image of Pluto captured by our New Horizons spacecraft. This dwarf planet orbits at an average distance of 3.7 billion miles from the Sun. This long distance means it's almost 40 times Earth's distance to the Sun.

This long distance from the Sun means that Pluto is rather chilly. Sunlight reaching Pluto’s surface is about 900 times dimmer than the light reaching Earth, and the surface’s average temperature hangs around a frigid average of -387°F.

Such cold temperatures make for icy conditions on the dwarf planet. Pluto’s surface is covered in glaciers, frost, and mountains of ice from a variety of chemicals, including water, methane, and nitrogen.

Image description: An image of Pluto against the dark background of space. The planetary body itself is tan, textured by dusty brown. The bottom half of the dwarf planet is marked by solid, sable bands that stretch across Pluto, like arms holding a pale, heart-shaped land feature to the bottom right.

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

#NASA #Pluto #Space #DwarfPlanet #WinterMood

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## Tags

wintermood, nasa, space, pluto, dwarfplanet

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