Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The size of solid bodies does not include an object's atmosphere. For example, Titan looks bigger than Ganymede, but its solid body is smaller. For the giant planets, the "radius" is defined as the distance from the center at which the atmosphere reaches 1 bar of atmospheric pressure. [11]
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.
As for objects in the asteroid belt, none are generally agreed as dwarf planets today among astronomers other than Ceres. The second- through fifth-largest asteroids have been discussed as candidates. Vesta (radius 262.7 ± 0.1 km), the second-largest asteroid, appears to have a differentiated interior and therefore likely was once a dwarf ...
The first image compares some of the largest TNOs in terms of size, color and albedo. This is a list of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), which are minor planets in the Solar System that orbit the Sun at a greater distance on average than Neptune , that is, their orbit has a semi-major axis greater than 30.1 astronomical units (AU).
For 76 years, Pluto was considered out solar system's ninth planet. So what caused it to lose its planetary status? Find out on this episode of "Space, Down to Earth"!
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 ...
Planetary-mass satellites larger than Pluto, the largest Solar dwarf planet. The three largest satellites Ganymede, Titan, and Callisto are of similar size or larger than the planet Mercury; these and four more – Io, the Moon, Europa, and Triton – are larger and more massive than the largest and most massive dwarf planets, Pluto and Eris.
RM: It does seem that after the pictures came back, there was an outpouring of affection for Pluto. It was kind of an afterthought among the planets—the dwarf planet. But now we’re discovering that it has a tail, it has mountains… AB: Well, everybody loves the underdog. I think that’s what we do as humans—we look for ourselves in things.