dwarf planet

dwarf planet

 body, other than a natural satellite (moon), that orbits the Sun and that is, for practical purposes, smaller than the planet Mercury yet large enough for its own gravity to have rounded its shape substantially. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) adopted this category of solar system bodies in August 2006, designating Pluto, the even more-remote object Eris, and the asteroid Ceres as the first members of the category. Unlike major planets, these bodies are not massive enough to have swept up most smaller nearby bodies by gravitational attraction; they thus failed to grow larger. The IAU agreed to establish a process for determining which other bodies presently known or to be discovered are dwarf planets. In June 2008 the IAU created a new category, plutoids, within the dwarf planet category. Plutoids are dwarf planets that are farther from the Sun than Neptune. Two of the dwarf planets, Pluto and Eris, are plutoids; because of its location in the asteroid belt, Ceres is not. For a discussion of the formal conditions set out by the IAU for a body to be a dwarf planet, see planet.

       Dwarf planets Dwarf planetsThe table provides a list of dwarf planets.

Clark R. Chapman
 

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • dwarf planet — ˌdwarf ˈplanet 8 [dwarf planet] noun a round object in space that goes around the sun but is not as large as a planet and does not clear other objects from its path • the dwarf planets Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Makemake and Haumea • These bodies have… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Dwarf planet — Not to be confused with Minor planet. Ceres as seen with the Hubble Space Telescope. It is the only dwarf planet in the asteroid belt …   Wikipedia

  • dwarf planet — noun As recognized by the International Astronomical Union, any body which has achieved hydrostatic equilibrium (is reasonably spherical), orbits the sun, and has not cleared its neighbourhood (as opposed to a planet). See Also: minor planet,… …   Wiktionary

  • dwarf planet — /dwɔf ˈplænət/ (say dwawf planuht) noun a celestial body in orbit around the sun which exerts sufficient gravity on itself to achieve a rounded shape but which has not cleared the neighbourhood of its orbit of asteroids, comets and space debris,… …  

  • Ceres (dwarf planet) — For other uses of the name Ceres , see Ceres. Ceres   Ceres as seen by Hubble Space Telescope (ACS). The …   Wikipedia

  • Eris (dwarf planet) — Eris   Eris (centre) and Dysnomia (left of centre). Hubble Space Telescope …   Wikipedia

  • Makemake (dwarf planet) — Makemake Makemake as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope Discovery Discovered by …   Wikipedia

  • Haumea (dwarf planet) — Infobox Planet bgcolour = #FFFFC0 name = Haumea caption = Artist s conception of Haumea, with its moons, Hiokinaiaka and Namaka discovery = yes discoverer= Brown et al. ; Ortiz et al. (neither official) discovered=2004 December 28 (Brown et al.… …   Wikipedia

  • List of dwarf planet candidates — At present, the International Astronomical Union classifies five objects as dwarf planets: Ceres, Pluto, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake, though dozens of others are thought likely to be classified as such in the future. The qualifying feature of… …   Wikipedia

  • Astronomers Reclassify Pluto as a Dwarf Planet — ▪ 2007  “What s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.” These lines, spoken about Romeo by Shakespeare s Juliet, encapsulated the debate that peaked in 2006 over the meaning of the word planet. The original… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”