Pluto's distance from the Sun varies significantly due to its highly elliptical orbit. On average, Pluto is about 3.7 billion miles (5.9 billion kilometers) away from the Sun, which is approximately 39 astronomical units (AU), where 1 AU is the average distance from Earth to the Sun (~93 million miles or 150 million kilometers)
- At its closest point to the Sun (perihelion), Pluto is about 2.76 billion miles (4.44 billion kilometers) or roughly 30 AU away
- At its farthest point (aphelion), Pluto is about 4.58 billion miles (7.38 billion kilometers) or nearly 49 AU away
Because of this elliptical orbit, Pluto sometimes comes closer to the Sun than Neptune, but their orbits are arranged so they never collide
. Light from the Sun takes about 5.5 hours to reach Pluto at its average distance
. In summary, Pluto's distance from the Sun ranges from about 2.76 billion to 4.58 billion miles, averaging around 3.7 billion miles (5.9 billion kilometers), or 39 AU
