Dwarf Planets

Dwarf Planets

Dwarf planets are worlds that are too small to be considered full-fledged planets, but too large to fall into smaller categories.

Most dwarf planets are in the KUIPER BELT; some are in the Asteroid belt

Trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs)

• Objects in the solar system that have an orbit beyond Neptune

• Also referred to as Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs)

• Pluto and several other dwarf planets are trans-Neptunian objects

Multiple Choice

Dwarf planets and some comets as also known as Kuiper Belt Objects. Another name for these objects is

• Outer planet objects

• Inner planet objects

• Asteroid Belt objetcs

• Trans Neptunian objects

Multiple Choice

What is an astronomical unit?

• average distance between the Moon and Earth

• average distance between the Earth and Pluto

• average distance between the Earth and the Sun

Multiple Select

Pluto, Eris, and Makemake (but not Ceres) are all classified as

• trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs)

• Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs)

• asteroids

• dwarf planets

Multiple Choice

Pluto, Eris, and Haumea orbit in the

• asteroid belt

• Kuiper belt

• Oort cloud

Multiple Choice

Between Mars and Jupiter is a region of the solar system called the __________.

• asteroid belt

• Milky Way

• Kuiper belt

• Oort Cloud

Multiple Choice

Ceres is a dwarf planet that orbits in the _________.

• Asteroid belt

• Milky Way

• Kuiper belt

• Oort Cloud

**SLIDE IS STRETCHED SO THE DWARF PLANETS ARE DISTORTED**

Multiple Choice

___________ are similar to planets but are not large enough to have cleared their orbital region of other objects.

• dwarf planets

• comets

• asteroid belt

• Kuiper Belt

• Oort cloud

Multiple Select

Which is TRUE of the dwarf planets?

• Spherical shape

• Never have moons

• Orbit the Sun

• Orbital path is cluttered with objects

Multiple Choice

Which planet is about the same size as Earth?

• Venus

• Haumea

• Eris

• Jupiter

Multiple Choice

Planets ALL orbit the sun.

• true

• false

Multiple Choice

Which is true of the dwarf planets?

• More massive than nearby objects

• DO NOT have a clear orbit

• Square-shaped

• They like Snow White

Multiple Choice

How many planets are there in our solar system?

• 4

• 12

• 8

• 9

Multiple Choice

Which of these is not a dwarf planet?

• Pluto

• Ceres

• Makemake

• Saturn

Multiple Select

What 2 traits define a planet?

• orbit a star

• flat

• round

• orbit earth

Eris

• Most massive dwarf planet, same diameter as Pluto (1,400 miles), smaller than our moon (Earth's diameter = 8,000 miles)

• Eris is Greek goddess of strife

• Discovered October 21, 2003

• 68 AUs from our sun

• 557 years for 1 orbit

• Kuiper Belt object (trans-Neptunian)

• Moon called Dysnomia

Fill in the Blanks

Multiple Choice

Farthest dwarf planet from the Sun (68 AUs).........

• Haumea

• Pluto

• Eris

• Makemake

Pluto

(3.6 billion miles away)

• Roman god of the underworld

• Reclassified to a dwarf planet in 2006

• 5 known moons

•  Largest dwarf planet but only the second most massive, with Eris being the most massive.

• Surface is covered with water ice

• VERY eccentric orbit, it crosses Neptune's path

• New Horizons spacecraft visited 2006

Multiple Choice

Which dwarf planet has 5 moons?

• Eris

• Mars

• Ceres

• Pluto

Multiple Choice

How many miles away is Pluto from the sun?

• 4.7 billion miles away

• 3.6 billion miles away

• 5.8 billion miles away

• 1 trillion miles away

Multiple Choice

When was Pluto "demoted" to Dwarf Planet?

• 2005

• 2006

• 2016

• 1999

Haumea

• Egg shaped, 4 hour rotation!

• Two moons, Namaka & Hi'iaka

• Kuiper belt (trans-Neptunian object)

• 800 mile diameter; 43 AUs from sun

• 285 Earth years to orbit the sun

• It may have rings...!

• Rock with an ice coating

Multiple Choice

Which dwarf planet is egg-shaped?

• Haumea

• Makemake

• Pluto

• Ceres

Multiple Choice

Which dwarf planet spins so fast it's day is only 4 hours long?

• Haumea

• Eris

• Makemake

• Ceres

Multiple Choice

Which dwarf planet has recently discovered rings?

• Ceres

• Pluto

• Eris

• Haumea

Makemake

• Kuiper belt object; 46 AUs from sun

• 305 years to orbit sun

• God of fertility

• 900 mile diameter

• One moon, not named?

• 22.5 hours to rotate

Multiple Choice

Which dwarf planet has 1 moon with no name yet?

• Pluto

• Makemake

• Eris

• Haumea

Ceres

• ASTEROID BELT

• 590 miles diameter and 0.015 % mass of Earth (smallest)

• Classified as both a dwarf planet AND an asteroid !

• Water vapor detected spewing from two regions on Ceres in 2014

• NASA's robotic Dawn mission arrived at Ceres in 2015

• 4.6 years to orbit the sun; 9 hour rotation

Multiple Choice

The dwarf planet located in the asteroid belt is ___

• Ceres

• Eris

• Pluto

• Make make

Multiple Choice

Which dwarf planet is the smallest?

• Ceres

• Pluto

• Haumea

• Eris

Multiple Choice

Ceres is the largest object in the Asteroid belt

(True or False)

• False

• True

DAWN - NASA Mission

Part of NASA's Discovery Program, Dawn is a mission to the two most massive bodies in the main asteroid belt – Vesta, an asteroid & Ceres.

Dawn launched in 2007 on a journey that put about 4.3 billion miles on its odometer. Propelled by ion engines, the spacecraft achieved many firsts until its extended mission concluded on Oct. 31, 2018.

In 2015, when Dawn went into orbit around Ceres, the mission became the first to visit a dwarf planet and go into orbit around two destinations beyond Earth.

Multiple Choice

Haumea spins faster than Jupiter, so it has how many hours in a day?

• 3 hours

• 1 hour

• 2 hours

• 4 hours

Multiple Choice

Which dwarf planet is this?

• Pluto

• Haumea

• Makemake

• Ceres

• Pluto

Multiple Choice

Ceres lies in the _________________

• Asteroid belt

• Kuiper belt

• Jungle

• Ocean

Multiple Choice

Which dwarf planet is pictured above?

• Ceres

• Pluto

• Makemake

• Eris

• Haumea