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dwarf planet

[ dwawrf plan-it ]

noun

, Astronomy.
  1. 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.


dwarf planet

noun

  1. 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

dwarf planet

  1. 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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Word History and Origins

Origin of dwarf planet1

First recorded in 1990–95
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Example Sentences

Abrams picked up the torch for the seventh, eighth and ninth movies, he tasked their rebels with blowing up one the size of a dwarf planet.

From Salon

After our moon and Pluto, the University of Bern team plans to explore similar scenarios for other outer Solar System bodies such as the Pluto-like dwarf planet Haumea.

Ever since the cameras of NASA's New Horizons mission discovered a large heart-shaped structure on the surface of the dwarf planet Pluto in 2015, this "heart" has puzzled scientists because of its unique shape, geological composition, and elevation.

However, this poses a problem: a giant depression like Sputnik Planitia is expected to slowly move towards the pole of the dwarf planet over time due to the laws of physics, since it has a mass deficit.

Other recent work seems to corroborate the date: the impact history captured in common meteorites, the formation history of the icy dwarf planet Haumea, and the earliest known mineral crystals found in Moon rocks retrieved by Apollo astronauts.

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