Pluto is the planet of transformation. It represents the clearing out of the old to make way for the new.
The House position of Pluto shows that area of our life which is currently undergoing major transformation. The changes that Pluto represents are different from the innovation symbolised by Uranus. Pluto is more concerned with the kind of change in which old energies are uncovered and removed, while Uranus is concerned with our search for new energies to take their place. For example, if Pluto is in the part of our chart to do with domestic issues (the Fourth House) this would suggest that childhood dramas and traumas are being examined, and the energy attached to these events is being resolved. However, Pluto moves extremely slowly, and it stays for many years at a time in each part of our chart.
The aspects which Pluto makes to other planets shows those other energies of our psyche which are helping to create this process of transformation. Conversely, these energies might also show which other energies are, themselves, undergoing change.
Pluto is the most recent planet to have been discovered: it was first noted in 1930. Although it is, on average, the furthest known planet from the Sun, its orbit is so elliptical that it is presently (until 1999) actually moving inside the orbit of Neptune. Its strange orbit, and also its unusual composition, suggest that it may actually be a runaway satellite of Neptune, rather than a proper planet.
| Mechanical Data | |
| Diameter | 2,320 km |
| Mass | 1.29 1022 Kg |
| Average distance from Sun | 39.53 AU |
| Period of rotation | 6.39 Earth days |
| Period of revolution | 247.7 Earth years |
| Mean surface temperature | 37 K |
| Atmosphere | Possibly methane and nitrogen |
