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The Term Dwarf Planet - Essay Example

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The paper "The Term Dwarf Planet" describes that the universe comprises of several millions of galaxies and each galaxy is a conglomeration of stars at different stages in their life cycle. Our own sun is one such star, around which revolve planets and other debris. …

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Subject: Miscellaneous
Type: Essay
Level: Undergraduate
Pages: 1 (250 words)
Downloads: 2
Author: qgutkowski

Extract of sample "The Term Dwarf Planet"

Planets must be large enough to assume the spherical shape and secondly, they have not yet established a debris-free orbit in their solar systeThirdhirdly, they must not be satellites for other planets. Further, if the celestial object in question is too small to take the rounded spherical shape, it would probably be classified as a comet or an asteroid.

In our solar system, several objects fall under this category of planets. The introduction of this new category of celestial objects was prompted by the recent discovery of Eris – a disc-shaped cluster of debris that was located far beyond the orbit of Pluto. The other notable dwarf planets in our solar system are Ceres and Pluto. Ceres was previously recognized as the largest asteroid and Pluto is demoted to dwarf planet status considering that its orbit is not as well established as other planets. It is interesting to note that these three are only the most prominent dwarf planets in our solar system. There could be as many as 200 orbiting in the outer reaches of our solar system. Read More

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