Sputnik Planitia (Pluto)
Data as of 2026-10-23
What it is
- Type
- Planitia, planitiae
- IAU definition
Low plain
- Diameter
- 1,492 km, 126 % of the radius of its body
- Centre
- 19.51° N, 178.69° east (planetocentric latitude, east longitude from 0 to 360°, the IAU convention)
- Name adopted
- August 8, 2017
- Origin of the name
Soviet Union's Sputnik 1 (literally Satellite 1), the first human-built satellite of the Earth (1957).
Quoted in English, as the IAU publishes it.
In Galaxy
Opens its body in the application, the camera turned towards Sputnik Planitia.
Missions to its body
No observation record of this formation is crossed here. These are the missions the Planetary Data System declares for its body; none is claimed to have observed Sputnik Planitia.
Sources
International Astronomical Union Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, read on October 23, 2026. Feature page: https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15669
Type definitions: IAU Descriptor Terms, read on October 17, 2026. https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/DescriptorTerms