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Dwarf Planets
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Dwarf Planets
Dwarf planets are celestial bodies that orbit the Sun but do not meet all the criteria required to be classified as planets. Unlike planets, they lack the gravitational pull necessary to clear their orbits of other debris. The most well-known dwarf planet is Pluto, but others include Ceres, Eris, Haumea, and ...
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Transcript
Did you know that Pluto was once considered a planet but now is a dwarf planet? What exactly is a dwarf planet?
According to the International Astronomical Union or IAU, a dwarf planet must orbit a star like the Sun, have enough mass to be nearly spherical in shape, not have cleared smaller objects from the area around its orbit, and not be a moon.
There are five recognized dwarf planets: Pluto, Eris, Makemake, Haumea, and Ceres. The first four lie in the Kuiper Belt, while Ceres is in the asteroid belt.
When we compare their sizes, Pluto is the largest, followed by Eris, with a slightly smaller diameter than Pluto.
Makemake, the third-largest dwarf planet, is about 75% the size of Pluto. Haumea, which is oval-shaped, has its largest axis about the same diameter as Pluto's and its shortest axis about half as long.
The smallest one, Ceres, is only about 40% of Pluto’s size.
Like the planets, dwarf planets also have moons. Pluto has five, Haumea has two, Eris and Makemake each have one, and Ceres has none.
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