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Dysnomia (moon)
Dysnomia, is a moon of the
dwarf planet Eris. The
satellite is about 60 times
fainter than Eris, and its
diameter is estimated to be
approximately eight times
smaller. Astronomers now
know that three of the four
... > full story
Eris (dwarf planet)
Eris is the largest known
dwarf planet in the solar
system. It is a
trans-Neptunian object
(TNO), orbiting the Sun in a
region of space known as the
scattered disc, just beyond
the Kuiper belt, and
... > full story
Definition of planet
The definition of "planet"
has for some time been the
subject of intense debate.
Although the word dates back
thousands of years, no
officially decreed
scientific definition of
"planet" existed before the
... > full story
Planet
The International
Astronomical Union defines
"planet" as a celestial body
that, within the Solar
System that is in orbit
around the Sun; has
sufficient mass for its
self-gravity to overcome
... > full story
Browse Reference Articles
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Asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is a region of the solar system falling roughly between the planets Mars and Jupiter where the greatest concentration of asteroid orbits can be found. Despite popular imagery, the ... > more -
Charon (moon)
Charon, discovered in 1978, is, depending on the definition employed, either the largest moon of Pluto or one member of a double dwarf planet with Pluto being the other member. With the discovery in ... > more -
Neptune's natural satellites
Neptune has 13 known moons. The largest by far is Triton, discovered by William Lassell just 17 days after the discovery of Neptune itself. It took a hundred years to discover the second, Nereid. ... > more -
Brown dwarf
Brown dwarfs were originally called black dwarfs, a classification for dark substellar objects floating freely in space which were too low in mass to sustain stable hydrogen ... > more -
Equatorial bulge
An equatorial bulge is a planetological term which describes a bulge which a planet may have around its equator, distorting it into an oblate spheroid. Because of a planet's equatorial bulge, its ... > more -
Ceres (dwarf planet)
Ceres, also designated 1 Ceres or (1) Ceres, is the smallest dwarf planet in the Solar System and the only one located in the main asteroid belt. With a diameter of about 950 km, Ceres is by far the ... > more -
Near-Earth asteroid
Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) are asteroids whose orbits are close to Earth's orbit. Some NEAs' orbits intersect Earth's so they pose a collision danger. On the other hand, NEAs are most easily ... > more -
Near-Earth object
Near-Earth objects (NEO) are asteroids, comets and large meteoroids whose orbit intersects Earth's orbit and which may therefore pose a collision danger. Due to their size and proximity, NEOs are ... > more
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