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Dwarf Planets
Ryan Fassett, Scott Taylor, Terry
Brennan, Sam North
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.
– Is not a moon.
In the Solar System
• Our Solar System has five known dwarf
planets.
General Information
Eris
Pluto
Haumea
Makemake
Ceres
Year of
Discovery
2003
1930
2003
2005
1801
Diameter
(mean)
2,326 km
2,302 km
1,436km
1,420 km
952.4 km
Orbital Period
(Earth Years)
561.4
247.9
281.9
305.34
4.6
Distance from
the Sun (times
Earth’s
Distance) 93
million
68
39.5
43.1
45.3
2.8
25.9 hours
6.39 Earth
Days
3.9 hours
22.5 hours
9.1 hours
1
5
2
0
0
Rotation
Period
Moons
Fun Facts
• The International Astronomical Union created the
category of “Dwarf Planets” in 2006.
• Some astronomers suspect that there as many as 50
dwarf planets in the solar system.
• A few years after Ceres was discovered in the 1800s, it
was classified as an asteroid, however, in 2006 it was
reclassified as a Dwarf Planet.
• Earth’s moon is bigger than all of the Dwarf Planets.
Sources
• http://www.space.com/18584-dwarfplanets-solar-system-infographic.html