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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 ...
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.
Haumea, a dwarf planet. Namaka; Hiʻiaka; Quaoar, a dwarf planet. Weywot; Makemake, a dwarf planet (307261) 2002 MS 4; 120347 Salacia; 20000 Varuna; Scattered-disc objects Gonggong, a dwarf planet. Xiangliu; Eris, a dwarf planet. Dysnomia (84522) 2002 TC 302 (87269) 2000 OO 67; V774104; Detached objects. 2004 XR 190; 2012 VP 113 (possibly inner ...
[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.
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.
The catalog's first object is 1 Ceres, discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi in 1801, while its best-known entry is Pluto, listed as 134340 Pluto. The vast majority (97.3%) of minor planets are asteroids from the asteroid belt (the catalog uses a color code to indicate a body's dynamical classification).
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.
Quaoar (minor-planet designation: 50000 Quaoar) is a large, 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.