BY FREYA OSTERBERG 2009

Table of Contents
Table of Contents...................................................................................................................2
Introduction...........................................................................................................................4
Extra information:............................................................................................................5
The discovery of Ceres...............................................................................................7
The diameter of Ceres ...............................................................................................7
Distance between Ceres, the Sun and the Earth..........................................................7
Orbitational period and rotational period of Ceres.....................................................7
Moons of Ceres:..........................................................................................................7
Gods/goddesses ..........................................................................................................7
Surface Atmosphere/ environment and volcanoes: ....................................................8
Extraordinary facts about Ceres:.................................................................................8
The Discovery of Pluto:............................................................................................10
The diameter of Pluto................................................................................................10
Distance between Pluto, the Sun and the Earth .......................................................10
Orbitational period and rotation period of Pluto.......................................................10
Moons of Pluto .........................................................................................................11
Gods/ Goddesses:......................................................................................................11
Surface, Atmosphere/ environment and Volcanoes...................................................11
The Discovery of Makemake:...................................................................................13
The diameter of Makemake .....................................................................................13
Distance between Makemake, the Sun and the Earth...............................................13
Orbitational period and rotation period of Makemake.............................................13
Moons of Makemake ...............................................................................................14
Gods/Goddesses........................................................................................................14
Surface, Atmosphere and volcanoes.........................................................................14
Extraordinary facts about Makemake.......................................................................14
The discovery of Eris................................................................................................15
The Diameter of Eris................................................................................................15
Distance between Eris, the sun and the Earth...........................................................15
Orbitational period and Rotation period of Eris.......................................................15
Moons of Eris ...........................................................................................................16
Gods/Goddesses........................................................................................................16
Surface, Atmosphere/ environment and volcanoes...................................................16
Extraordinary facts about Eris..................................................................................17
The discovery of Haumea .......................................................................................19
The diameter of Haumea .........................................................................................19
Distance between Haumea, the Sun and the Earth...................................................19
Orbitational and rotational period of Haumea..........................................................19
Moons of Haumea.....................................................................................................20
..................................................................................................................................20
Gods/Goddesses .......................................................................................................20
Surface/atmosphere and volcanoes ..........................................................................20

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 Extraordinary facts about Haumea............................................................................20
Pictures of the 5 major dwarf planets.................................................................................21

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 Introduction

Did you know: The word Sol in

THE SOLAR SYSTEM: Latin means Sun. So in Latin, the
solar system is the sun System.

When you think of the word "space" you think of The Earth and the
Other Planets, the Sun, the galaxy, the Milky Way, Stars- constellations,
Moons, Comets, asteroids, meteors, no gravity, astronauts, space crafts
and organizations like NASA (National Aeronautics and Space
Administration) and the IAU (International Astronomical Union). As well
as all these celestial bodies (anything in space) there are also Dwarf
planets that are not fully classified to be planets.

Here is a picture of the eight planets. In

order from left to right –Mercury, Venus Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus and Neptune.

Amongst these eight official Planets there are Five Dwarf planets. In
order from largest to smallest: Eris, Pluto, Haumea, Make make and
Ceres.
Some scientists believe there are probably lots of other Dwarf planets in
the Kupier belt but they are the main Five.

Here are two pictures of the complete solar system including several
dwarf planets.

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 In 2006 the IAU made four specific rules so that a celestial body
(anything in space) can become a planet. These are the rules:

a. Is in orbit around the Sun.

b. Has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body
forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round)
shape.
c. Has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.
d. Is not a satellite.(moon)

Extra information:

• No spacecraft has ever visited any of the dwarf planets.

• Not all Dwarf planets have moons.
• There are no volcanoes on any of the dwarf planets.
• Not all Dwarf planets are named after gods.

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 • Planets are not perfect spheres because when each planet spins
on their axis it expands in the middle and squishes in the top so it
is not a perfect sphere.
• The planets between the asteroid belt and the Sun are called Inner
planets (Mars Mercury Venus and Earth) and the planets on the
opposite side of the asteroid belt are called either gas giants or
Outer planets (Jupiter Saturn Neptune and Uranus). Dwarf planets
are separate group of celestial bodies. Pluto used to be known as
an Outer planet but now that Pluto is a dwarf planet it is not an
outer planet any longer.
• Some scientists measure distances in space with a type of
measurement called AU (astronomical unit) One astronomical unit
is 149,600,000 KM, which is the distance between the sun and the
Earth.
• Because planets orbit the sun the distance from the sun
sometimes changes.

This green arrow shows Earth’s moon

Here are the sizes of all five-dwarf planets compared to the size of Earth.
From this picture you can see that Ceres and Makemake don’t have
moons. You can also see that Haumea is more like an oval or egg shape
than a sphere because Haumea spins so quickly.

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 Ceres’ symbol

The discovery of Ceres

Monk Giuseppe Piazzi discovered Ceres on January 1st 1801.
Did you know: Monk
The diameter of Ceres Giuseppe Piazzi also
discovered the first
The diameter is approximately 957 km. asteroid in the
asteroid belt?

Distance between Ceres, the Sun and the

Earth
Ceres is about 270,400,000 km from the Earth.
Ceres is about 446,000,000 km from the Sun.

Orbitational period and rotational period

of Ceres
A day on Ceres is only 9 hours long! [How long it takes to spin on its
axis- rotational period].
A year on Ceres is 4.6 earth years long. [How long it takes to orbit the
sun- orbitational period].

Moons of Ceres: Ceres and

Makemake are the
Ceres has no moons that scientists have discovered.only Dwarf planets
that don’t have
Gods/goddesses
Ceres is the roman goddess of corn, grain, Agriculture, harvest and
motherly love.

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This coin shows Ceres the roman Goddess.

Surface Atmosphere/ environment and

volcanoes:
The surface on Ceres is similar to the surface of Earth’s moon – rock
ice/water.
The environment On Ceres is very rocky.
There are no volcanoes on Ceres.

Extraordinary facts about Ceres:

Ceres is located in the Asteroid belt, which is a belt of Asteroids
separating the inner planets from the outer planets/gas giants (between
Mars and Jupiter).

Ceres is an asteroid; asteroids are small bodies that scientists believe

were left over from the start of the solar system, which was over 4,600
million years ago!

Even though Ceres is

the biggest asteroid in
the asteroid belt Ceres
is the smallest of all the
dwarf planets!

Sometimes Ceres’ symbol can be flipped around to change from looking

like this: to looking like this:

Ceres’ symbol is sometimes mistaken with Venus’ symbol because they

are so alike.
Ceres is the closest dwarf planet to the sun.

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Page 9 of 21
 Did you know: Pluto
and Eris are the
only dwarf planets
with more than 1
astronomical
symbol, Pluto’s
symbols are:

The Discovery of Pluto:

Clyde Tombaugh was the man who discovered Pluto in 1930.
Why did he discover Pluto: Many people believed that Pluto was a
satellite of Neptune and when it escaped Neptune’s gravity pull
scientists began looking for Pluto in the sky.

The diameter of Pluto

The diameter is approximately 2274 km.

Distance between Pluto, the Sun and the

Earth
Pluto is approximately 3,660,000,000 miles away from the sun.
Pluto is about 3.4 billion miles away from the Earth.

Orbitational period and rotation period of

Pluto
A day on Pluto (how long it takes to spin on its axis – rotational period) is
six Earth days long.
It takes 248 Earth years to Orbit the sun. (Length of a year- orbitational
period).

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Moons of Pluto
Pluto has 3 moons.
The first is Charon, it was discovered by James Christy in 1978. The
diameter is about 1172 km, which is about half the size of Pluto. The
orbit period of Charon around Pluto is 6.387 days.
Did you know: Pluto
and Ceres were the
first two dwarf
planets to be
named dwarf
planets in 2006.

Scientists hadn’t named Pluto’s other two moons so the scientists called
them s/2005p1 and s/2005 p2 now they are called Hydra and Nix. Alan
Stern and Harold Weaver discovered them in 2005. Their sizes are the
same at 44.130 km in diameter. Their orbit periods around Pluto are
24.856 and 38.206 days respectively.

The yellow arrows show Hydra and Nix and the purple arrow shows
Charon.

Gods/ Goddesses:
Pluto is named after the roman god of the under world – not after Mickey
Mouse’s dog!
Pluto is also the Greek god Haydes. Pluto’s symbol doesn’t
always have to have a
star in the middle so
Pluto’s symbol can also
look like this:

Surface, Atmosphere/ environment and

Volcanoes
There are no volcanoes on any of the dwarf planets.

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The surface on Pluto is split up into three sections – Ice, non-ice and
rock.
The weather on Pluto is divided into two seasons a windy season and a
cold season.

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 The same
symbol for
Makemake is the
symbol for Eris’s
moon dysnomia:

The Discovery of Makemake:

Michael brown discovered Makemake On March 31st 2005 in the
California Polmar Observatory.

The diameter of Makemake

The Size/Diameter of Makemake is about- 13001900 km.

Distance between Makemake, the Sun and

the Earth
Makemake is between 38.509- 53.074AU {5.761 billion km -7.940 billion
km} from the sun.
Makemake is approximately 37.5 AU [5.61 billion km] from the Earth.

Orbitational period and rotation period of

Makemake
Astronauts are not sure how long a day on Makemake is. [Rotation
period= how long it takes to spin on its axis).
A year on Makemake is 309.88 earth years. [Orbitational period how
long it takes to orbit the sun].
Makemake
and Ceres
are the
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planets
that have
no moons!
Moons of Makemake
Makemake has 0 moons that have been discovered by scientists.

Gods/Goddesses
Makemake is the
There are no Gods/ goddesses called Makemake.
only dwarf planet
that is not named
after a God!
Surface, Atmosphere and volcanoes
The surface of Makemake is mainly covered in frozen methane / gas.
There isn’t an atmosphere on Makemake.
There are no volcanoes on any of the dwarf planets.

Extraordinary facts about Makemake

Makemake is an object in the Kupier belt [KBO]. See Eris explanation.

This blue arrow shows where the Kupier belt is.

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 Eris is the
planet that
spins 2nd
fastest on it’s
axis and is
slowest
planet to
orbit the sun

The discovery of Eris

Eris The dwarf planet was discovered in January 2005. Professional
astronomers discovered Eris in the California Polmar observatory while
looking at photos taken 2 years Earlier. (First photographed in October
2003 by NASA).

Eris is the
The Diameter of Eris slowest
planet to
The diameter of Eris is approximately 2400 km, which is just bigger than
orbit the
Pluto’s diameter of 2274 km. sun. It
takes Eris
about 557
years to
Distance between Eris, the sun and the orbit the
Earth sun
slower
than
Eris is 14, 162 million KM from the Earth. Neptune’s
Eris is 14311 billion km from the sun. orbit
period of
164.79
years.
Orbitational period and Rotation period of
Eris
It takes 557 Earth years {Almost} for Eris to orbit the sun! (Orbitational
period = length of a year).

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A day on Eris is only 9 earth hours long! Which is slightly faster than
Jupiter’s rotation period of 9 hrs and 55 mins. (Rotational period -how
long
It takes to spin on its axis).

Moons of Eris
Eris has only one moon called Dysnomia that has been discovered by
scientists. Mike Brown discovered Dysnomia on September 15th 2005.
Dysnomia is about 100 km- 250 km in diameter. Its orbit period is
around Eris is 14 days.

This orange arrow shows Eris’s moon, Dysnomia.

Eris is the
Gods/Goddesses biggest dwarf
planet and
Eris is the Greek goddess of chaos, discord and strife. Eris is the
furthest
The symbol for Eris’ moon is planet from
the same as Make make’s the sun.

symbol:

Surface, Atmosphere/ environment and

volcanoes
The surface of Eris is mainly ice and rock.
100 years ago Eris had an atmosphere however Eris is so far away from
the sun; over time the atmosphere has become frozen solid so now
there is no longer an atmosphere on Eris.
Some-times Eris is 38 Au from
the sun but at the moment it
is 97 au from the sun.

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Extraordinary facts about Eris
Eris is the dwarf planet with the most astronomical symbols these are

the symbols: , one of the more common symbols of Eris is the

golden apple:

And Eris has a different symbol in Poland too. The

symbol for Eris in Poland is:

Here is another symbol however; most of the IAU says this symbol is a

fake. Nobody is quite sure yet if this symbol is a fake or not:

This symbol is called the Paratheo-Anametamystikhood Of Eris Esoteric

(POEE) also known, as the sacred Chao. Here is a picture of the sacred
chao:

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Like Makemake; Eris is an object in the Kupier belt (KBO). The
Kupier belt; is a belt of asteroids that surrounds the outermost part
of the Solar system.
The red arrow shows where the Kupier belt is.

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 Haumea
was first
named
Santa
because it
was
named on
28/12/04
and is now
called
The discovery of Haumea Haumea

Mike Brown discovered Haumea on Christmas 2004 in the California

institute of technology.

The diameter of Haumea

The diameter of Haumea is approximately 1218 times 943 times 619
miles.

Distance between Haumea, the Sun and

the Earth
Haumea is roughly between 5260 km and 7708 km away from the sun.
Haumea is roughly 5.108 billion km away from the sun.

Orbitational and rotational period of

Haumea
A year on Haumea is 285.4 earth years long. (Orbit period = how long it
takes for Haumea to travel around the sun).

Haumea is the planet that spins fastest on its axis Haumea is even
faster than Jupiter that takes approximately 9 hrs and 55 mins. Haumea

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only takes 3 hrs and 55 mins to spin on its axis and that’s FAST!
(Rotation period = how long it takes to spin on its axis).
Moons of Haumea

This picture shows Haumea and Haumea’s moons

Hi’iaka (pink arrow above) and Namaka. (White arrow above).
Haumea’s first moon Namaka was discovered On June 30, 2005 by
scientists at W.M Keck observatory and was originally first named
Rudolph or Haumea 11. Namaka is 310 km in diameter. Namaka’s orbit
period around Haumea is 34.7 days.

Hi’iaka Haumea’s bigger moon was discovered on January 26 in 2005 by

the same observatory and was first called Blitzen or Haumea 1. Hi’iaka is
170 km in diameter. Hi’iaka’s orbit period around Haumea is 49.12 days.

Gods/Goddesses
Haumea is named after the Hawaiian goddess of childbirth.

Surface/atmosphere and volcanoes

The surface of Haumea is frozen and covered with ice.
There are no volcanoes on Haumea.
Haumea does not have an atmosphere.

Extraordinary facts about Haumea

Haumea was the planet last planet to be named a dwarf planet; it was
named a dwarf planet in September 2008.

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Haumea is the planet that spins fastest on its axis.

Pictures of the 5 major dwarf planets

Eris Makemake

Ceres Pluto

Haumea

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