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Dwarf Planets
Pluto was considered ninth planet till 2006. In 2006 International Astronomical Union
declared definition of Planet. Criteria defined are as follows

1. It is in orbit around the Sun 2. It has almost spherical in shape 3. It has

cleared the neighborhood around its orbit

Pluto complies two of these criteria. Only it has not cleared its neighborhood. There are
many objects in or near its orbit. These objects following first two criteria of planets
definition are defined as Dwarf Planet. With these criteria following objects are declared
as Dwarf Planet Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Makemake and Haumea. Ceres is situated in asteroid
belt between Jupiter and Mars and remaining are situated in outer solar system. In is
assumed that there would be around 10000 dwarf planets.

Still discovery of Pluto is tale of endurance, patience and dedication in itself. Anomalies
observed in Neptune's orbit lead to conclusion of another planet beyond it. Pluto was
discovered through consistent efforts of Percival Lowell and Clyde Tombaugh.
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Ceres
Dwarf planet Ceres is situated in asteroid belt between Jupiter and
Mars. It was designated as Asteroid before definition of Dwarf Planet
was confirmed. Once it was defined, Ceres was designated with type
Dwarf Planet. It is nearest Dwarf Planet to the Sun. It is also smallest
of all defined Dwarf Planets.
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Diameter (Km) : 974.6
Mass (1024 Kg) : 0.00016
Density (Kg/m3) : 2.077
Escape Velocity (Km/s) : 0.51
Gravity (m/s2) : 0.028
Avg. Distance from the Sun (A. U.) : 2.76596
Rotational Period : 0.378 days
Revolution Period (Yrs) : 4.599
Orbital Eccentricity : 0.07976
Tilt of axis (Degrees) : 3
Mean Temperature (C) : -106
Number of Moons : 0

Ceres
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Facts :
1. Ceres was discovered in 1801
2. Ceres was considered as planet from 1801 to 1850. From 1850 onwards
till 2006 it was considered as Asteroid
3. After 1850 till 2006 this was considered as largest Asteroid. In 2006 it is
designated as Dwarf Planet
4. 1/3 mass of all Asteroid Belt objects is in Ceres
5. Some frozen water or water ice has been found on Ceres
6. Scientist suggest that core of Ceres is made of solid rock and its mantel
is made of frozen ice. Volume of this ice is estimated to be approximately
20million cubic kilometer which is more than fresh water found on the
Earth
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Pluto
Pluto is second dwarf planet from the Sun. Till 2006, before definition
of dwarf planet was confirmed, Pluto was described as ninth planet.
After 2006, it was observed that Pluto did not fit in definition of Planet
so it was defined as Dwarf Planet. Rather debate on status of Pluto
lead scientist to decide definition of Dwarf Planet.

Pluto has five satellites, Chiron, Styx, Nix, Kerberos and Hydra. Chiron is largest of all
five
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Diameter (Km) : 2300
Mass (1024 Kg) : 0.002
Density (Kg/m3) : 2.077
Escape Velocity (Km/s) : 1.27
Gravity (m/s2) : 0.06
Avg. Distance from the Sun (A. U.) : 39.44
Rotational Period : 6.38 Days
Revolution Period (Yrs) : 247.7
Orbital Eccentricity : 0.2482
Tilt of axis (Degrees) : 122
Mean Temperature (C) : -220
Number of Moons : 5

Pluto
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Facts :
1. Chiron is largest satellite of Pluto and it is interlocked with Pluto by
tidal gravitational forces. Due to this Pluto and Chiron always present
same face to each other
2. Pluto is smaller than few satellites of other planets. Ex. Ganymede
3. Pluto receives intensity of sunlight that equals to intensity of moon light
on the Earth
4. Pluto's orbit is highly elliptical and bisect Neptune's orbit. Due to this
Pluto comes near to the Sun than Neptune while revolving around the
Sun
5. Spherical objects beyond Pluto's orbit are called Plutoid
6. Pluto has completed 1/3 of his revolution around the Sun from it's
discovery in 1930 till 2006
7. Light emerged from the Sun takes around 3 hours to reach the Pluto
8. 50 to 70 percent of Pluto is made of rock and remaining of ice. It is
comprised of solid rock at core and frozen Nitrogen shell around it.
9. When Pluto reach near the Sun, this frozen layer evaporates and creates
thin layer consisting Nitrogen, Methane and CO2
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Eris
Eris is farthest dwarf planet from the Sun. It is situated beyond
Kuiper Belt. This region is sometimes called as Scattered Disk. This
dwarf planet is more massive than Pluto. Eris has one satellite called
Dysnomia
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Diameter (Km) : 2400
Mass (1024 Kg) : 0.0028
Density (Kg/m3) : 1.18 Vo 2.3
Escape Velocity (Km/s) : 1.31
Gravity (m/s2) : 0.082
Avg. Distance from the Sun (A. U.) : 67.6681
Rotational Period : 8 Hrs
Revolution Period (Yrs) : 557
Orbital Eccentricity : 0.44177
Tilt of axis (Degrees) : -
Mean Temperature (C) : -230
Number of Moons : 1

Eris
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Facts :
1. Prior to confirmation of definition of dwarf planet in 2006, it was
considered that Eris will be declared as Planet
2. Eris is volumeis greater than total of volume of all objects in Asteroid
belt. Eris' diameter is 2/3 and volume is 1/3 of the Moon.
3. Scientist consider that Eris' surface is rocky similar to that of the Pluto
4. According to scientist Eris was once part of Kuiper's belt. But in process
of formation of solar system Eris was thrown outwards because of
Neptune's gravitational interaction
5. Eris and its Dysnomia are farthest natural objects in our Solar System
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Haumea
Haumea is third dwarf planet from the Sun. It is situated in Kuiper Belt just
beyond Pluto's orbit. Its shape is ellipsoids because it completes its
rotation around its own axis in only 3.9 hours. Haumea has two satellites
Hi'iaka and Namaka
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Diameter (Km) : 1960
(Near Equator)

Mass (1024 Kg) : 0.0007

Density (Kg/m3) : 2.6 Vo 3.3
Escape Velocity (Km/s) : 0.84
Gravity (m/s2) : 0.045
Avg. Distance from the Sun (A. U.) : 43.335
Rotational Period : 0.163 Days
Revolution Period (Yrs) : 285.4
Orbital Eccentricity : 0.0188
Tilt of axis (Degrees) : -
Mean Temperature (C) : -223
Number of Moons : 2

Haumea
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Facts :
1. Haumea is third brightest planet in Kuiper Belt
2. Haumea is ellipsoid in shape
3. Scientist think that surface of Haumea is rocky like the Pluto
4. According to scientist Haumea faced some major impact with huge
celestial body and it lead to creation of it's two satellites
5. Haumea takes around 3.9 hours to complete one rotation around it's
own axis. This cause it to include in list of rapidly rotating objects in the
Solar System
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Makemake
Makemake is one of the farthest dwarf planet. Only Eris is beyond this
dwarf planet. It is third largest object in Kuiper's belt
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Diameter (Km) : 1900/1300
Mass (1024 Kg) : 0.00067
Density (Kg/m3) : 2
Escape Velocity (Km/s) : 0.8
Gravity (m/s2) : 0.051
Avg. Distance from the Sun (A. U.) : 45.791
Rotational Period : -
Revolution Period (Yrs) : 309.88
Orbital Eccentricity : 0.0159
Tilt of axis (Degrees) : -
Mean Temperature (C) : -240
Number of Moons : 0

Makemake
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Facts :
1. Makemake is largest object in Kuiper's belt
2. Makemake is one of the farthest objects in Solar System. Only Eris and
it's satellite are farther than Makemake
3. Makemake is only known dwarf planet without satellite. So it was
challenging to decide it's mass and other properties. It was defined with
help of Mathematics.
0
4. Temperature on Makemake is around -243.2 C. It is comprised of frozen
Nitrogen, Ethane and Methane
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Asterods
One can observe large gap between Jupiter and Mars. There is no planet
in this area. According to Titius-Bode postulate, one planet had to be
there, instead we find many small objets ranging from few inches to few
hundred kilometer in diameter in this region orbiting the Sun. These
objects are called Asteroids collectively called as Asteroid Belt. Almost all
asteroids are random in shapes. Due to less gravitational force caused by small mass, these
objects couldn't assume spherical shape.

These objects couldn't gather together and form a planet due to tidal forces generated by
gravitational pull of the gas giant Jupiter. Similar belt can be found beyond Neptune. Few
asteroids orbit the Sun in very elongated path and come closer to the Sun than the Earth. Few
orbits of Asteroid intersect Earth's orbit and can collide with the Earth. These asteroids are
closely under observation. Ceres, Juno, Pallas and Hygiea are few of major Asteroids. These
four Asteroids share 1/2 of the total mass of the Asteroid belt objects. Ceres is designated as
Dwarf Planet in 2006.
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Ceres Juno

Asterods
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Facts :
1. There are thousands of asteroids in the belt and new ones are found
frequently. They range from size of few kilometers to dust particles.
2. Though most of the asteroids are size of pebbles, more than 200
asteroids are diameter of 100 km or more. And more than 1 million are of
diameter 1 km or more
3. Ceres is first asteroid discovered which was declared as Dwarf planet
later in 2006
4. Ceres is largest object in this belt
5. Average distance between objects in this belt is approx. 90000km. That's
why space vehicles can easily travel through this without any collision
6. Asteroids are named after suggestions of Discoverer. Alongwith that
these asteroids are listed with specific numbers
7. These asteroids are sometime called as Planetismals. That means
building blocks of planets
8. Appolo objects are asteroids whose orbits crosses the orbit of the Earth
9. An asteroid impact around 65 million years ago caused a chain reaction
that lead to extinction of the dinosaurs
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Kuiper Belt
Kupier Belt or Kuiper-Edgeworth Belt is flat ring like structure beyond orbit of Neptune. It
spreads between distance of 30 A. U to 50 A. U. It is composed of millions of small rocky icy
objects just like Asteroid belt. Scientists think that this belt is made of leftover material from
process of formation of Solar System

Three dwarf planets Pluto, Makemake and Haumea are part of this belt. Few satellites found
in Solar System are also form in this belt and later captured by big planets. For example Triton
of Neptune or Phoeb of Saturn.

All Objects in this belt are called as Trans Neptunian Objects (TNO).
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Facts :
1. There are thousands of objects in the belt. They range from size of few
kilometers to dust particles.
2. Three dwarf planets Pluto, Makemake and Haumea are members of this
belt
3. Dwarf planet Eris is larger than Pluto and found beyond this belt in
region called Scattered Disk. It might be member of this belt previously
4. Triton, Neptune's satellite, is also larger than Pluto. As scientist suggest,
it was also member of this belt and Neptune captured it by gravitational
pull.
5. Scientist have found Kuiper Belt like structures around some other
stars also