First and foremost, the term ‘dwarf planet’ refers to a planetary mass or object that is neither a natural satellite nor a true planet. That is, a dwarf planet is one which is in direct orbit of a star, and is massive enough gravity to compress it into a hydrostatically stable shape (usually like a…
Gazing at the stars on a beautiful star-adorned sky at night, no doubt, is very fascinating. However, when one of the star-like objects moves from one point to another, with a trail of light at its tail, the fascination goes a step further. Then, this question comes to mind ‘what was that?’ Well, that must…
The Kuiper Belt, or the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt is a disc (circumstellar) found at the outer most regions of our solar system. This extends from Neptune’s orbit at approximately thirty (30) AU to about fifty (50) AU from our sun. The Kuiper belt is somewhat similar to the asteroid belt in terms of composition but as…
Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun. This makes it the most distant planet in the solar system. It was first discovered in 1846 and is the fourth largest planet in the solar system. It is so big that about 60 Earths could fit inside it. Neptune is smaller than all the other gas giants in…
Pluto was discovered in 1930 and is the second closest dwarf planet to the Sun. Pluto’s diameter is close to 2,370 km (1473 miles) and orbits in a region called the Kuiper Belt. Pluto is one of the coldest places in the solar system as it is far way from the Sun. It hasn’t even completed one…