What is the difference between planets dwarf planets and asteroids

Enter your email address to subscribe to the content newsletter by email: Click here to preview the email newsletter. Structure Theme. Information Security Singularity Science About. Hence, it was completely different than the other planets. Also see: Difference between asteroids and planets. According to the previous categorization, all of the newly discovered trans-Neptunian objects would also be classified as planets, even though, like Pluto, they did not fit the traditional definition of a planet.

So, the new three-way categorization model was adopted. Under this model, Pluto was demoted to a dwarf planet, while other solar objects that were too big to be classified as asteroids but did not meet the requirements for a planet were also classified under dwarf planets. However, only Ceres and Pluto have been observed in enough detail to demonstrate that they fit the definition. Hence, the other may or may not be reclassified as new information is available.

It is estimated that there may be dwarf planets in the Kuiper belt of the outer Solar System, and up to 10, in the region beyond. Hence, the main difference between a dwarf planet and an asteroid is that a dwarf planet is an asteroid that is big enough to have a gravitational force that has allowed the asteroid to compound itself to a spherical shape. Thirdly, they have not cleared their orbit or neighborhood.

According to NASA, this means that they share an orbital space with other similarly-sized celestial bodies and are not gravitationally dominant. The most famous example of a dwarf planet is Pluto, which was once considered to be a planet but was redefined. Comets, which are much smaller than dwarf planets, are giant pieces of rock and ice that travel through space. Most comets formed billions of years ago during the formation of planets and stars. When comets become large enough to be pulled by the sun's gravity, they begin to travel towards the sun.

This results in a large amount of the ice melting, which gives them a colorful and gaseous tail that travels behind them. Despite the appearance of a comet tail, the comets are circular until they are melted by the sun. Asteroids, which are smaller than comets, are particles of rock and metal that travel through space. In , the discovery of Pluto's largest moon, Charon, gave scientists an opportunity to learn more about Pluto.

The two icy objects eclipsed each other from Earth's point of view from allowing scientists to more precisely determine their diameters and masses. At approximately 1, km, Charon's diameter is just less than half of Pluto's. Pluto is also eight times more massive than Charon. It is not uncommon for a moon to be locked synchronously with its planet, just as Earth's moon is locked to Earth.

It is far less common, however, for a planet to be locked synchronously with its moon. The Pluto-Charon system is the only planet-moon system in our solar system locked synchronously together, with each always showing the same face to the other. Two more moons were discovered orbiting Pluto in Nix and Hydra are considerably smaller than Pluto and Charon, at only 40 km and km in diameter, respectively.

Nix orbits Pluto at 48, km from the center of mass of the system, more than twice the orbital distance of Charon. Hydra is the outermost of Pluto's satellites, orbiting at 64, km from the center of mass of the Plutonian system. Discovered in , Eris is now the largest known dwarf planet in our solar system.

Its diameter is estimated at km, and it weighs roughly 1. Like Pluto, it is very difficult to make precise measurements of Eris' diameter and mass, but these are the most updated estimates.