Dwarf
planet Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid
belt between Mars and Jupiter and the only dwarf
planet located in the inner solar system. It
was the first member of the asteroid belt to
be discovered when Giuseppe Piazzi spotted it
in 1801. And when Dawn arrived in 2015, Ceres
became the first dwarf planet to receive a visit
from a spacecraft.
Called
an asteroid for many years, Ceres is so much
bigger and so different from its rocky neighbors
that scientists classified it as a dwarf planet
in 2006. Even though Ceres comprises 25 percent
of the asteroid belt's total mass, tiny Pluto
is still 14 times more massive.
10
Things to know
1 Small world : Ceres’ radius is just 296 miles
(476 km)
2 Orbits the sun
3 Seize the day
Ceres completes one rotation around its axis
every 9 hours.
4 No longer an asteroid
Ceres is so much bigger and so different from
its neighbors that scientists classified it
as a dwarf planet in 2006.
5 Atmosphere
6 Moonless
7 Ringless
8 First dwarf planet visited by spacecraft
9 Potential for life
Scientists would like to search for possible
signs of life on Ceres. It has something many
other planets don't: water.
10 rom the mouth of babes
Venetia Burney, just 11 years old at the time,
suggested the name Pluto in 1930.
Source
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