Dwarf planet
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dwarf planets are part of a group of objects in space. This group was created in August 2006. It includes Pluto, which was called a planet before the group was created.
The first three objects, that are called dwarf planets are Pluto, Ceres and Eris.
Pluto was found by Clyde W. Tombaugh in 1930, Ceres was found by Guiseppe Piazzi in 1801 and Eris was found by Mike Brown and his team in 2005.
Before the group dwarf planet was made, a lot of astronomers were trying to figure out what it really means to be a planet, since no one ever really made it clear what a planet was supposed to be.
The International Astronomical Union, which is the group of astronomers that decides what the names of planets, stars, asteroids, and checks all the discoveries people make, decided on what a dwarf planet is.
The Solar System | |
---|---|
Star | The Sun |
Planets | Mercury • Venus • Earth • Mars • Jupiter • Saturn • Uranus • Neptune |
Dwarf planets | Ceres • Pluto • Eris |
Small solar system body | Asteroid belt – Comets – Meteors – Kuiper belt – Scattered disc – Oort cloud |
Other | Moon |