134340 Pluto at opposition

Across much of the world 134340 Pluto will be well placed for observation, in the constellation Sagittarius. It will be visible for much of the night, reaching its highest point in the sky at around midnight local time.

From London however, it will not be readily observable since it will lie so far south that it will never rise more than 16° above the horizon.

134340 Pluto opposite the Sun

This optimal positioning occurs when 134340 Pluto is almost directly opposite the Sun in the sky. Since the Sun reaches its greatest distance below the horizon at midnight, the point opposite to it is highest in the sky at the same time.

At around the same time that 134340 Pluto passes opposition, it also makes its closest approach to the Earth – termed its perigee – making it appear at its brightest and largest.

This happens because when 134340 Pluto lies opposite the Sun in the sky, the solar system is lined up so that 134340 Pluto, the Earth and the Sun form a straight line with the Earth in the middle, on the same side of the Sun as 134340 Pluto.

In practice, however, 134340 Pluto orbits much further out in the solar system than the Earth – at an average distance from the Sun of 39.79 times that of the Earth, and so its angular size does not vary much as it cycles between opposition and solar conjunction.

On this occasion, 134340 Pluto will lie at a distance of 32.83 AU, and reach a peak brightness of magnitude 14.5. Even at its closest approach to the Earth, however, 134340 Pluto is so distant from the Earth that it is not possible to distinguish it as more than a star-like point of light.

134340 Pluto in coming weeks

Over the weeks following its opposition, 134340 Pluto will reach its highest point in the sky four minutes earlier each night, gradually receding from the pre-dawn morning sky while remaining visible in the evening sky for a few months.

A chart of the path of 134340 Pluto across the sky in 2019 can be found here, and a chart of its rising and setting times here.

The position of 134340 Pluto at the moment it passes opposition will be:

The coordinates above are given in J2000.0.

This entry in the observing calendar was provided by In-The-Sky.org

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