dwarf planet
Latest
Astronomers confirm the most distant object in the Solar System
Scientists have confirmed that Farfarout is the most distant object in the Solar System — it makes Pluto seem close.
Watch NASA's orbiter approach the dwarf planet Ceres at 1PM ET
The largest object in the Main Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter is Ceres, an odd, water-rich proto-planet roughly the size of Texas (590 miles in diameter). Scientists have long puzzled about the origin of the bright white spot near the equator, which we recently learned is two bright spots. We'll soon know a lot more about it as NASA's Dawn spacecraft has nearly reached Ceres. It's already captured shots of the planet (above) and will soon go into a polar orbit at 13,500 km (8,300 miles) before descending to a survey altitude of 4,430 km (2,800 miles). Eventually, it'll drop as low as 1,480km (950 miles) to capture high resolution mapping data and 3D images of Ceres. Once the mission is over it'll remain the asteroid's orbiting buddy forever.
Newly discovered dwarf planet could challenge what we know about our solar system
While Pluto might have been stripped of its full planetary status, thanks to a shift in official definitions, a newly discovered planetoid could actually hint at the existence of a "super-Earth" in the far reaches of our solar system. The ball of rock and ice, known as 2012 VP113, is estimated to be 250 miles wide, and has the most distant known orbit of our sun -- currently around 7.7 billion miles, extending to around 42 billion at its farthest. 2012 VP113 was spotted using the Dark Energy Camera in Chile, after a series of time-lapse photos captured it moving across the night sky.
