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The second resolution, 5B, defined dwarf planets as a subtype of planet, as Stern had originally intended, distinguished from the other eight that were to be called "classical planets". Under this arrangement, the twelve planets of the rejected proposal were to be preserved in a distinction between eight classical planets and four dwarf planets.
The dwarf planet systems Pluto–Charon and Eris–Dysnomia are the only known examples of mutual tidal locking in the Solar System, [20] though it is likely that Orcus–Vanth is another. [ 21 ] The reddish-brown cap of the north pole of Charon is composed of tholins , organic macromolecules that may be essential ingredients of life .
The brightest cluster of spots ("Spot 5") is located in an 80-kilometer (50 mi) crater called Occator, [1] [2] which is located at 19.86° N latitude; 238.85 E longitude. [1] [2] Spots on Ceres from different angles. The spot in the center of the crater is named Cerealia Facula, [16] and the group of spots to the east - Vinalia Faculae. [17]
Ceres (minor-planet designation: 1 Ceres) is a dwarf planet in the middle main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.It was the first known asteroid, discovered on 1 January 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi at Palermo Astronomical Observatory in Sicily, and announced as a new planet.
Dawn is the first spacecraft to have orbited two extraterrestrial bodies, [17] the first spacecraft to have visited either Vesta or Ceres, and the first to have orbited a dwarf planet. [ 18 ] The Dawn mission was managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory , with spacecraft components contributed by European partners from Italy, Germany, France ...
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 ...
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Haumea (minor-planet designation: 136108 Haumea) is a dwarf planet located beyond Neptune's orbit. [25] It was discovered in 2004 by a team headed by Mike Brown of Caltech at the Palomar Observatory, and formally announced in 2005 by a team headed by José Luis Ortiz Moreno at the Sierra Nevada Observatory in Spain, who had discovered it that year in precovery images taken by the team in 2003.