Well, technically Pluto is a planet but a Dwarf Planet. What is a Dwarf planet? A dwarf planet is a celestial body that -orbits the sun, has enough mass to assume a nearly round shape, has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, and is not a moon. Dwarf planets are a lot like regular planets but smaller. Dwarf planets have enough mass to be round and travel around the sun like the other planets. These planets share their path of orbit with asteroids, debris, and even other dwarf planets.
Pluto is not the only Dwarf planet in our solar system, there are many others.”
CERES
The Dwarf planet, Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and it’s the only dwarf planet located in the inner solar system. Ceres was named after the roman goddess of corn and harvest.
Ceres was the first member of the asteroid belt to be discovered when Giuseppe Piazzi, spotted it in 1801. Ceres was called an Asteroid for many years but since it was so immense and had a very different shape from Asteroids, scientists made it a Dwarf planet in 2006. The most interesting fact is that scientists believe that there may be water in it which means that life might be possible there.
PLUTO
Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 and classified as a planet for over 75 years but was switched to a dwarf planet in 2006. Originally Pluto was named Planet X. In 1930 Venetia Burn suggested that Pluto should be named for the Roman God of the Underworld and eventually her suggestion was chosen.
Pluto is located in the Kuiper Belt an area full of Icy bodies and other dwarf planets, way out past Neptune. Pluto is the brightest object in the Kuiper Belt. Pluto is on average 3,671,754,387.06 MILES from the sun. It takes about 248 YEARS to go around the sun. Pluto is very small it is about 1,473 MILES WIDE. Pluto has about 5 moons. The largest moon is Charon.
HAUMEA
Haumea is located in an area called the Kuiper Belt. It was named after the Hawaii goddess of fertility and is believed to be made of rock with a coating of ice. It is said, that it has a different shape from the other Dwarf planets due to a collision with the other objects in the belt.
Haumea has two moons, Both moons are named after the Hawaiin Goddess Haumea’s Daughters. It also has rings. An interesting fact about Haumea is that A day on Haumea is less than 4 hours and a year on Haumea is equal to 285 years on Earth!
MAKEMAKE
Makemake was discovered on March 31, 2005. Makemake was named after the Rapa Nui god of Humanity and Fertility. It was named Easter Bunny because of its discovery so close to Easter!
The discovery of Makemake and Eris is the reason that Pluto lost its status as a Planet. It is about 880 Miles wide. Even though Makemake is so small, it still has one moon named MK2, which is about 100 miles wide.
ERIS
Eris is the last planet of all the other Dwarf Planets. It was discovered in 2005. When it was first founded it was named XENA, after a popular T.V show, but it was officially named after the Greek Goddess of Discord and Strive.
In simple words, it means Disagreement, which suits it because it was the reason Pluto became a Dwarf Planet. Eris has one moon named Dysnomia, which is named after Eris’s daughter the Demon Goddess of Lawlessness.
Eris is the farthest from the Sun among all the Dwarf Planets.
I hope that now you learned why is Pluto not a Dwarf Planet and it’s not the only Dwarf planet in the Solar System…
Post by:-
Aiza Irfan V-B