what is pluto made of

Pluto is made mostly of a mix of ice and rock: its interior is thought to be roughly 50–70% rock surrounded by 30–50% water-ice, while its surface is coated with frozen nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide.

Quick Scoop: What Is Pluto Made Of?

Pluto is a small, cold dwarf planet out in the Kuiper Belt, so its materials are very different from Earth’s. Instead of being dominated by metal and silicate rock like the inner planets, Pluto is a hybrid “rock–ice” world.

Inside Pluto (Core and Interior)

• Models based on Pluto’s density suggest its interior is about 50–70% rocky material (silicates and some metals).

• The remaining 30–50% is mostly water ice forming a thick mantle around that rocky core.

• Radioactive elements in the rock may generate enough heat to keep part of this ice layer warm or even partially liquid, raising the possibility of a subsurface ocean.

Surface Ices and “Crust”

• The solid surface is coated in volatile ices, mainly nitrogen ice (more than 98%), with smaller amounts of methane and carbon monoxide frozen on top.

• These ices give Pluto its bright appearance and drive active geology: they can flow slowly like glaciers in regions such as Sputnik Planitia, reshaping the surface over time.

Atmosphere and Seasonal Frost

• When Pluto is closer to the Sun, some of that nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide ice evaporates into a thin atmosphere.

• As Pluto moves farther away and cools, the atmosphere “snows out” and refreezes onto the surface, recycling these same ices over its long year.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.