13 articles
2015 TG387
2015 TG387, nicknamed the Goblin, is a distant trans-Neptunian object discovered in 2015, with its extreme orbit fitting patterns attributed to the hypothetical Planet Nine.
Ahuna Mons
Ahuna Mons is a 4-km-high mountain near the equator of the dwarf planet Ceres, the tallest there, formed as a cryovolcano that erupted salty, muddy brine.
Bright spots on Ceres
The bright spots on Ceres are unusually reflective deposits, called faculae, made mostly of sodium carbonate left by evaporating salty brine, first seen by Hubble in 2004.
Ceres (dwarf planet)
Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt and the only dwarf planet in the inner solar system, discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi in 1801.
Cryovolcanism on Ceres
Cryovolcanism on Ceres is the eruption of cold, salt-rich brines onto the dwarf planet Ceres, which NASA's Dawn orbiter found shaped features like Ahuna Mons and Occator crater.
Eris (dwarf planet)
Eris is a dwarf planet in the scattered disk beyond Neptune and the most massive known. Its 2005 discovery led the IAU to reclassify Pluto in 2006.
Haumea
Haumea is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune, named for a Hawaiian goddess, with a fast 4-hour spin and two moons, Hi'iaka and Namaka.
Hiʻiaka (moon)
Hiʻiaka is the outer and larger of Haumea's two known moons, discovered in 2005 and named for the Hawaiian goddess of Hawaii island and hula dancers.
List of possible dwarf planets
The list of possible dwarf planets covers bodies likely to meet the IAU's definition, beyond the five officially recognized: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris.
Makemake
Makemake is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune, discovered in 2005 and named in 2008; it is that belt's second-brightest object after Pluto.
Pluto
Pluto is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune, reclassified from ninth planet in 2006 and explored by NASA's New Horizons flyby of 2015.
Toharu (crater on Ceres)
Toharu is an 86-km-diameter impact crater on the dwarf planet Ceres at 48.32°S, 155.95°E, named for a Pawnee god, with a central peak cut by a pit indicating subsurface ice.
Uhola Catenae
Uhola Catenae: chains of troughs and elongated pits on dwarf planet Ceres, north of the Yalode basin; IAU-named 2016 after a Nigerian harvest festival; 400 km across, partly radial to Yalode.