Dwarf planet
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Dwarf planets is the name used to identify a group of objects in space. This group was created in August 2006. It includes Pluto, which was called a planet before the group was created.
The first three objects, that are called dwarf planets are Pluto, Ceres and Eris.
Pluto was found by Clyde W. Tombaugh in 1930, Ceres was found by Guiseppe Piazzi in 1801 and Eris was found by Mike Brown and his science team in 2005.
Before the group dwarf planet was made, a lot of astronomers were trying to figure out what it really means to be a planet, since no one ever really made it clear what a planet was supposed to be.
The International Astronomical Union, which is the group of astronomers that decides what the names of planets, stars, asteroids, and checks all the discoveries people make, decided on what a dwarf planet is. This idea helped astronomers classify different planets separately, but some astronomers don't agree. They think that the term "dwarf planet" is too confusing and needs to be changed.
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| The Sun · Mercury · Venus · Earth · Mars · Ceres · Jupiter · Saturn · Uranus · Neptune · Pluto · Eris |
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Planets · Dwarf planets · Moons: Terrestrial · Martian · Jovian · Saturnian · Uranian · Neptunian · Plutonian · Eridian
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Small bodies: Meteoroids · Asteroids/Asteroid moons (Asteroid belt) · Centaurs · TNOs (Kuiper belt/Scattered disc) · Comets (Oort cloud)
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| See also: List of solar system objects |
