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The following is a list of Solar System objects by orbit, ordered by increasing distance from the Sun. Most named objects in this list have a diameter of 500 km or more. Most named objects in this list have a diameter of 500 km or more.
Solar System – gravitationally bound system comprising the Sun and the objects that orbit it, either directly or indirectly. Of those objects that orbit the Sun directly, the largest eight are the planets (including Earth), with the remainder being significantly smaller objects, such as dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies.
[39] [40] Like the asteroid belt, it consists mainly of small bodies (remnants from the Solar System's formation) and at least one dwarf planet—Pluto, which may be geologically active. [41] But while the asteroid belt is composed primarily of rock and metal , the Kuiper belt is composed largely of ices , such as methane , ammonia , and water .
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This new view of Pluto's crescent stunningly highlights the dwarf planet's varied terrains, extended atmosphere and familiar Arctic look. NASA releases stunning new 'Earth-like' images of Pluto ...
AB: I would have been happy if the pictures just showed a gray planet, so I continue to be astonished. As a kid, you soak up all those pictures of Saturn, Mars, Mercury. But I hadn’t seen any of Pluto. My favorite one was taken on approach, and it was of the dark side of Pluto. We got closer, and there were all these craters swirling.
Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most- massive known object to directly orbit the Sun .
Pluto has an extremely thin atmosphere that consists of nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide, derived from the ices on its surface. [38] Two models [39] [40] show that the atmosphere does not completely freeze and collapse when Pluto moves further from the Sun on its extremely elliptical orbit. However, some other models do show this.