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[a] Originally considered a planet, Pluto's status as part of the Kuiper belt caused it to be reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006. It is compositionally similar to many other objects of the Kuiper belt, and its orbital period is characteristic of a class of KBOs, known as " plutinos ," that share the same 2:3 resonance with Neptune.
Quaoar (minor-planet designation: 50000 Quaoar) is a ringed dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a region of icy planetesimals beyond Neptune.It has an elongated ellipsoidal shape with an average diameter of 1,090 km (680 mi), about half the size of the dwarf planet Pluto.
Dwarf planets: Dwarf planets, other than Ceres, are plutoids that have elliptical orbits: [25] [26] [27] Ceres, 2.8 AU in the asteroid belt; Orcus 39.4 AU, Trans-Neptunian-Kuiper belt object; Pluto 39 AU, Kuiper belt (a planet until 2006) Haumea 43 AU, Kuiper belt; Makemake 45.8 AU, Kuiper belt; Eris 95.6 AU, Kuiper belt; Gonggong Scattered ...
The timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their natural satellites charts the progress of the discovery of new bodies over history. Each object is listed in chronological order of its discovery (multiple dates occur when the moments of imaging, observation, and publication differ), identified through its various designations (including temporary and permanent schemes), and the ...
1979 – Pioneer 11 flies by Saturn, providing the first ever closeup images of the planet and its rings. It discovers the planet's F ring and determines that its moon Titan has a thick atmosphere. [199] 1979 – Goldreich and Tremaine postulate that Saturn's F ring is maintained by shepherd moons, a prediction that would be confirmed by ...
The planets are, in order of distance from the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. There are three main belts of minor bodies: The asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter. The Kuiper belt beyond Neptune, followed by the scattered disc. The Oort cloud in the boundaries of the Solar System.
Its orbit revealed that it was a new planet, Uranus, the first ever discovered telescopically. [20] Giuseppe Piazzi discovered Ceres in 1801, a small world between Mars and Jupiter. It was considered another planet, but after subsequent discoveries of other small worlds in the same region, it and the others were eventually reclassified as ...
Other objects, such as 28978 Ixion (discovered in 2001) and 20000 Varuna (discovered in 2000) measure roughly 500 km across. [1] This has led gradually to the acceptance of Pluto as the largest member of the Kuiper belt. [citation needed] The brightest known dwarf planets and other KBOs (with absolute magnitudes < 4.0) are: