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(3) All other objects [3], except satellites, orbiting the Sun shall be referred to collectively as "Small Solar System Bodies". Footnotes: [1] The eight planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. [2] An IAU process will be established to assign borderline objects into either dwarf planet and other categories.
The term 'dwarf planet' arguably contains two words, a noun (planet) and an adjective (dwarf). Thus, the term could suggest that a dwarf planet is a type of planet, even though the IAU explicitly defines a dwarf planet as not so being. By this formulation therefore, 'dwarf planet' and 'minor planet' are best considered compound nouns.
[3] [30] [31] [6] Proponents of Stern and Levinson's geophysical definition have shown that such conceptions of what a planet is have been used by planetary scientists for decades, and continued after the IAU definition was established, and that asteroids have routinely been regarded as "minor" planets, though usage varies considerably. [32] [33]
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) adopted a definition of a planet in the Solar System, placing the four terrestrial planets and the four giant planets in the planet category; Ceres, Pluto, and Eris are in the category of dwarf planet. [2] [3] [4] Many planetary scientists have nonetheless continued to apply the term planet ...
The phrase refers to an orbiting body (a planet or protoplanet) "sweeping out" its orbital region over time, by gravitationally interacting with smaller bodies nearby. Over many orbital cycles, a large body will tend to cause small bodies either to accrete with it, or to be disturbed to another orbit, or to be captured either as a satellite or into a resonant orbit.
3 Criteria. Toggle Criteria subsection. 3.1 Orbital dominance. ... A dwarf planet is a small planetary-mass object that is in direct orbit around the Sun, ...
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Terraforming a planet would involve making it fit the habitability requirements listed in the previous section. For example, a planet may be too cold for liquid water to exist on its surface. Its temperature could be raised by adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, [ 26 ] using orbiting mirrors to reflect more sunlight onto the planet, [ 27 ...