This article is from the series "The Solar System" where we will be sharing interesting facts about everything, from the origin of the Solar System to the mysterious massive planet 9. Please follow our social media accounts to get regular updates.
Our Solar System is not only home to Sun, planets and their moons, and random small objects. There are other more defined structures which needed mention. Here we are talking about the Dwarf planets.
Here are some interesting facts about the five recognized dwarf planets:
The term dwarf planet was adopted in 2006 as part of a three-way categorization of bodies orbiting the Sun
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Liberal estimates are that another hundred or so known objects in the Solar System may be dwarf planets. The number may exceed 10,000 when objects scattered outside the Kuiper belt are considered
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Discoverer of Eris and Makemake, Michael E. Brown, stated that use of the term dwarf planet for a non-planet is “dumb”
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Ceres was the first asteroid to be discovered in the Asteroid Belt, thus the minor-planet designation: 1 Ceres
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Ceres does not have any natural satellite
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Pluto is more than twice the diameter and a dozen times the mass of the dwarf planet Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt
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Mike is responsible for the discovery of Eris, Makemake and other TNOs
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NASA initially described Eris as the Solar System‘s tenth planet because it appeared to be larger than Pluto
Appendix: Eccentricity
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It came to Perihelion between 1698 and 1699, to Aphelion around 1977, and will return to Perihelion around 2256 to 2258
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Haumea has an orbital period of 284 Earth years
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Rings around Dwaft planet Haumea represents the first ring system discovered for a TNO
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Brown initially conceded discovery credit to Ortiz but came to suspect the Spanish team of fraud upon learning that his observation logs were accessed from the Spanish observatory the day before the discovery announcement
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Because satellites offer a simple method to measure an object’s mass, Makemake’s satellite should lead to better estimates of its mass
Appendix: Plutoid
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Makemake’s extremely low average temperature, about 30 K (−243.2 °C), means its surface is covered with methane, ethane, and possibly nitrogen ices
Appendix: AU
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Charon is the moon of Pluto
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Source: Wikipedia
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