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The concept of human exploration of dwarf planets has intrigued scientists since Pluto's discovery in 1930. Despite the vast distances and significant challenges, advancements in space technology could make such endeavors possible. Colonizing dwarf planets offers potential economic benefits due to the presence of rare and valuable ores. [23]
The prototypical dwarf planet is Pluto, which for decades was regarded as a planet before the "dwarf" concept was adopted in 2006. Dwarf planets are capable of being geologically active, an expectation that was borne out in 2015 by the Dawn mission to Ceres and the New Horizons mission to Pluto.
Since 2008, there have been five dwarf planets recognized by the IAU, although only Pluto has actually been confirmed to be in hydrostatic equilibrium [25] (Ceres is close to equilibrium, though some anomalies remain unexplained). [26] Ceres orbits in the asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter. The others all orbit beyond Neptune.
2006 – The 26th General Assembly of the IAU voted in favor of a revised definition of a planet [234] and officially declared Ceres, Pluto, and Eris dwarf planets. [235] [236] 2007 – Dwarf planet Gonggong, a large KBO, was discovered by Megan Schwamb, M. Brown, and D. Rabinowitz. [237] 2008 – The IAU declares Makemake and Haumea dwarf planets.
Pluto: 1930 2006 Dwarf planet: Following its discovery in 1930, Pluto was considered the ninth planet. Numerous scientific discoveries in the 1990s and early 2000s placed doubt on this classification, and after the discovery of Eris, which was thought to be larger than Pluto, the International Astronomical Union met to determine a definition of ...
It is not clear how many KBOs are large enough to be dwarf planets. Consideration of the surprisingly low densities of many dwarf-planet candidates suggests that not many are. [113] Orcus, Pluto, Haumea, Quaoar, and Makemake are accepted by most astronomers; some have proposed other bodies, such as Salacia, 2002 MS 4, [114] 2002 AW 197, and ...
The largest known trans-Neptunian objects are Pluto and Eris, followed by Haumea, Makemake, Gonggong, Quaoar, Sedna, and Orcus, all of them being officially recognized as dwarf planets by the IAU except for Gonggong, Sedna, and Orcus. There are also many possible dwarf planets, such as Salacia, (307261) 2002 MS 4, Varda, Ixion, and Varuna.
Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest known trans-Neptunian object by volume, by a small margin, but is less massive than Eris.