It’s estimated that there are hundreds to thousands of dwarf planets in our solar system. Currently there are only five that are officially recognized: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris.
Dwarf planets orbit the sun like regular planets but they are much, much smaller. Smaller even than the Earth’s moon, but they are not moons. So small that if the Earth was the size of a nickel, a dwarf planet would be no bigger than the head of a pin. Do you have a nickel and pin? Put them next to each other to compare the size.
Some of the dwarf planets have their own moons that are even smaller! Pluto has five, Haumea has two and Eris has one.
You can find the dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt, a collection of asteroids on the edge of our solar system past the orbit of Neptune.
Download and learn more about our solar system from AJ Academy.
Like, Share and Reblog
No comments:
Post a Comment