Pluto before Charon was discovered. Pluto is more than twice the diameter and a dozen times the mass of the dwarf planet Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt. It is less massive than the dwarf planet Eris, a trans-Neptunian object discovered in 2005, though Pluto has a larger diameter of 2376.6 km compared to Eris's approximate diameter of 2326 km. Determinations of Pluto's size had been complicated by its atmosphere, and hydrocarbon haze. In March 2014, Lellouch, de Bergh et al. published findings regarding methane mixing ratios in Pluto's atmosphere consistent with a Plutonian diameter greater than 2360 km,
Tombaugh Regio the International Astronomical Union (IAU), together with names for 13 other surface features on Pluto. Some people find the feature also resembles the Disney character Pluto, an animated non-anthropomorphic dog which shares the name of the dwarf planet. The Walt Disney Company acknowledged this perceived likeness in a short animation. Tombaugh Regio Tombaugh Regio (), nicknamed The Heart after its shape, is the largest bright surface feature of the dwarf planet Pluto. It is just north of the equator, to the northeast of Cthulhu Macula and to the northwest of Krun Macula, which are both dark features. Its western lobe,