New Dwarf Planet Subclass
On June 11, 2008, the IAU announced that the sub-category of dwarf planets with trans-Neptunian orbits would be known as "plutoids". In an accompanying press release, the IAU said that:
| “ | Plutoids are celestial bodies in orbit around the Sun at a distance greater than that of Neptune that have sufficient mass for their self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that they assume a hydrostatic equilibrium (near-spherical) shape, and that have not cleared the neighbourhood around their orbit. | ” |
This sub-category includes Pluto, Haumea, Makemake and Eris.
Read more about this topic: IAU Definition Of Planet
Famous quotes containing the words dwarf and/or planet:
“When I lie down to love,
old dwarf heart shakes her head.
Like an imbecile she was born old.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“Could it not be that just at the moment masculinity has brought us to the brink of nuclear destruction or ecological suicide, women are beginning to rise in response to the Mother’s call to save her planet and create instead the next stage of evolution? Can our revolution mean anything else than the reversion of social and economic control to Her representatives among Womankind, and the resumption of Her worship on the face of the Earth? Do we dare demand less?”
—Jane Alpert (b. 1947)