How many planets including dwarf planets

When Pluto was discovered 80 years ago, we never could have expected the variety of objects in the Solar System. Categorizing Pluto as a dwarf planet helps us better describe our celestial home. So, our Solar System now has eight planets, and five dwarf planets. Explore further. More from Astronomy and Astrophysics. Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page.

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May 28, The Solar System. Credit: NASA. Credit: ESO. Source: Universe Today. Citation : How many planets are in the solar system? This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only. More evidence of an evolutionary 'arms race' between genes and selfish genetic elements 24 minutes ago.

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Dwarf planet is a new class of astronomical objects. It was created in by the International Astronomical Union as part of their struggle to define the word 'planet'. The discovery of objects in the outer solar system which were larger than or of similar size as Pluto necessitated the need for a definition.

This distant region is called the Kuiper Belt and extends far beyond the orbit of Neptune. After much debate, it was decided that to be a planet in our solar system, an object must be in orbit around the Sun, have enough mass so that it has become round in shape due to its own gravity , and have cleared out its orbital path around the Sun so there are not similar objects to itself at roughly the same distance from the Sun. Dwarf planets were declared to be the class of objects which met the first 2 requirements, but failed the third.

It was then made clear that planets and dwarf planets are distinct classes of objects. Dwarf planets are not planets. Pluto, Ceres, and Eris became the first three members of this dwarf planet classification, and many others are expected to follow.