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The Pluto–Charon system is one of the few in the Solar System whose barycenter lies outside the primary body; the Patroclus–Menoetius system is a smaller example, and the Sun–Jupiter system is the only larger one. [151] The similarity in size of Charon and Pluto has prompted some astronomers to call it a double dwarf planet. [152]
A dwarf planet is a small planetary-mass object that is in direct orbit around the Sun, massive enough to be gravitationally rounded, but insufficient to achieve orbital dominance like the eight classical planets of the Solar System. The prototypical dwarf planet is Pluto, which for decades was regarded as a planet before the "dwarf" concept ...
There is a strong consensus among astronomers [e] that the Solar System has at least nine dwarf planets: Ceres, Orcus, Pluto, Haumea, Quaoar, Makemake, Gonggong, Eris, and Sedna. There are a vast number of small Solar System bodies, such as asteroids, comets, centaurs, meteoroids, and interplanetary dust clouds.
Pluto and Eris were eventually classified as dwarf planets by the International Astronomical Union. In December 2018, the discovery of 2018 VG 18 , nicknamed "Farout", was announced. Farout is the most distant Solar System object so far observed and is about 120 AU away from the Sun.
Pluto was considered a planet up until 2006, when researchers at the International Astronomical Union voted to "demote" it to dwarf planet.
The following is a list of numbered minor planets in ascending numerical order. With the exception of comets, minor planets are all small bodies in the Solar System, including asteroids, distant objects and dwarf planets.
This is a list of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), which are minor planets in the Solar System that orbit the Sun at a greater distance on average than Neptune, that is, their orbit has a semi-major axis greater than 30.1 astronomical units (AU). The Kuiper belt, scattered disk, and Oort cloud are three conventional divisions of this volume of ...
Tombaugh Regio (/ ˈ t ɒ m b aʊ ˈ r ɛ dʒ i oʊ /), sometimes nicknamed "Pluto's heart" after its shape, [2] is the largest bright surface feature of the dwarf planet Pluto. [3] [4] [5] It lies just north of Pluto's equator, to the northeast of Belton Regio and to the northwest of Safronov Regio, which are both dark features. [6]