On August 24, 2006, the International Astronomical Union had decided on the official definition of a word that before that day had seemed almost unambiguous. They decided that a planet must meet three ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. An illustration of confirmed dwarf planets and their moons. From left to right: Pluto (with ...

The New Horizons Pluto flyby revealed unexpectedly complex geological features on dwarf planets, prompting further investigation into the diversity within the Kuiper Belt. Several dwarf planets, ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dwarf planet Eris, similar in size to its better-known cosmic cousin Pluto, has remained an enigma since being discovered in 2005 lurking in the solar system's far reaches.

(CNN) NASA's tractor-trailer-sized Dawn spacecraft is now in orbit around Ceres, becoming the first probe to orbit a dwarf planet.The spacecraft was about 38,000 miles (61,000) kilometers from Ceres ...

Two recent studies, utilizing data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), analyzed the spectral signatures of the dwarf planets Eris and Makemake, revealing the presence of methane containing ...

Ever since Pluto was fatefully downgraded from a planet to a dwarf planet, our celestial backyard has become quite semantically confounding. A newly discovered object only adds to this cosmic ...