dwarf planet
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
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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 NewsConsider 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 NewsThe 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 ReviewThere’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 ReviewCeres, 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
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
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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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