It takes 248 Earth years for Pluto to complete one orbit around the Sun. Its orbital path doesn't lie in the same plane as the eight planets, but is inclined at an angle of 17°. Its orbit is also more oval-shaped, or elliptical, than those of the planets. That means that sometimes Pluto is a lot nearer to the Sun than at other times, At times Pluto's orbit brings it closer to the Sun than Neptune. The last time this happened was from 1979 to 1999. It won't happen again until 2227.

Like the planet Uranus, Pluto rotates on its side, its axis tilted about 120 degrees.