dwarf planet

[ dwawrf-plan-it ]

nounAstronomy.

a spherical celestial body revolving about the sun, similar to a planet but not large enough to gravitationally clear its orbital region of most or all other celestial bodies. In 2006, the planet Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet.

Origin of dwarf planet

First recorded in 1990–95

Words Nearby dwarf planet

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use dwarf planet in a sentence

By now, there are at least 150 of these dwarf planets, and most people have no clue, he says.
The definition of planet is still a sore point – especially among Pluto fans | Lisa Grossman | August 24, 2021 | Science News
Consider Ceres, the first of what are now known as dwarf planets to be discovered.
The definition of planet is still a sore point – especially among Pluto fans | Lisa Grossman | August 24, 2021 | Science News
The largest asteroid and smallest dwarf planet in the solar system could be home to liquid water, sitting deep underground.
The best places to find extraterrestrial life in our solar system, ranked | Neel V. Patel | June 16, 2021 | MIT Technology Review
There’s no shortage of new proposals for future missions to study the dwarf planet, including ones that would even attempt a sample return mission.
The best places to find extraterrestrial life in our solar system, ranked | Neel V. Patel | June 16, 2021 | MIT Technology Review
Ceres, a dwarf planet that sits between Mars and Jupiter, was studied by NASA’s Dawn probe from orbit from 2015 to 2018.
The best places to find extraterrestrial life in our solar system, ranked | Neel V. Patel | June 16, 2021 | MIT Technology Review

British Dictionary definitions for dwarf planet

dwarf planet

noun

any celestial body within the solar system that is larger than a satellite but smaller than a planet, and that orbits the sun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for dwarf planet

dwarf planet

A celestial body that orbits the Sun and is massive enough to assume a nearly spherical shape, but that does not clear other bodies from the neighborhood around its orbit and is not a satellite of a planet. Dwarf planets include Ceres, Pluto, and Eris. This category was created by the International Astronomical Union in 2006.

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