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A dwarf planet is a small planetary-mass ... same region of space as ... a dwarf planet today. [74] In 2024, Kiss et al. found that Quaoar has an ellipsoidal shape ...
The number of dwarf planets in the Solar System is unknown. Estimates have run as high as 200 in the Kuiper belt [1] and over 10,000 in the region beyond. [2] However, consideration of the surprisingly low densities of many large trans-Neptunian objects, as well as spectroscopic analysis of their surfaces, suggests that the number of dwarf planets may be much lower, perhaps only nine among ...
A total of 18 minor planets (asteroids, dwarf planets, and Kuiper belt objects) have been visited by space probes. Moons (not directly orbiting the Sun) and planets are not minor planets and thus are not included in the table below.
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]
Of the Solar System's eight planets and its nine most likely dwarf planets, six planets and seven dwarf planets are known to be orbited by at least 300 natural satellites, or moons. At least 19 of them are large enough to be gravitationally rounded; of these, all are covered by a crust of ice except for Earth's Moon and Jupiter's Io. [1]
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.
By RYAN GORMAN Scientists may have found Planet X -- the long-rumored object believed to be larger than Earth and further from the sun than Pluto. Planet X and another object dubbed "Planet Y ...
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.