Solar System: What are dwarf planets anyway?

in 2006 Pluto He was the star of the “decay”. Newspapers and scientific journals announced the celestial body reduction. situation dwarf planet. But what is a dwarf planet? What are their properties and how can they teach us more about the laws that govern the Universe?

Since the 1990s, debates about what characterizes a planet and whether Pluto is really a planet have been fashionable for the International Astronomical Union (UAI). However, the decision to create a new category of celestial bodies was made only in 2006, after the discovery of Eris in 2005.

Roughly the same size as Pluto, how is Eris classified? Another planet?

What is a dwarf planet?

To resolve this dilemma, the IAU has established three rules for classifying a star as a planet:

1- To orbit a star;

2- To have sufficient mass to achieve hydrostatic balance, which gives the body a rounded shape;

3- Dominate its orbit by “clearing” its surroundings of other objects that might interfere with its orbit.

And it was Pluto’s reclassification by the third rule. dwarf planet. Pluto shares its orbit with Charon, the largest of its moons. There is a debate that the Pluto-Charon system is actually a binary system. dwarf planets. But for now only one dwarf planet and its moon is almost as large as itself.

So, to be counted dwarf planetstar must meet the first two rules, and therefore a small asteroid benefited from this new class of stars.

What are the dwarf planets in our solar system?

Currently, the IAU recognizes five celestial bodies as: dwarf planets, but there are many other stars that may fall into this classification in the near future. Recognized are:

Pluto

It is the minor planet about which we have the most information so far. It is located on the outskirts of our Solar System, in the Kuiper Belt, and was visited by the New Horizons space probe in 2015.

eris

Although slightly smaller, it is denser than Pluto. So far it has not been directly visualized and is also in the Kuiper Belt. It is named after the Greek goddess of discord. Pluto says so.

Ceres

If there’s anyone you’re good at in this story, it’s Ceres. It was previously designated as the largest asteroid ever observed in the Asteroid Belt, which lies between the orbits of Ceres, Mars and Jupiter. Promoted by new rules. dwarf planetjust one of them minor planets this is not in the Kuiper Belt.

haumea

Haumea has a very special way. It is not spherical like the others, but because its shape is shaped by rotational motion, it is, in theory, classified as . dwarf planet. Its shape is more like a rugby ball, with two bears and a ring.

make-up

Makemake is found in the Kuiper belt, as are Haumea, Pluto, and Eris. It takes about 300 Earth years to complete its orbit around the sun. In 2015, it was noted that Makemake had a satellite called MK 2.

Despite the controversy over Pluto’s classification, this new class of celestial bodies paves the way for more stars to be discovered and classified over the next few years.

As technology advances and space becomes better known, new classifications and new stars may be discovered and named, as well as better knowing their inner and outer structure. dwarf planets.

The universe is too vast to get into an argument about names, isn’t it?