First, they orbit other objects. Secondly, their mass is large enough to the extent they form a spherical shape. Thirdly, they have not cleared their orbit or neighborhood. According to NASA, this means that they share an orbital space with other similarly-sized celestial bodies and are not gravitationally dominant. The most famous example of a dwarf planet is Pluto, which was once considered to be a planet but was redefined.
Comets, which are much smaller than dwarf planets, are giant pieces of rock and ice that travel through space. Most comets formed billions of years ago during the formation of planets and stars.
When comets become large enough to be pulled by the sun's gravity, they begin to travel towards the sun. This results in a large amount of the ice melting, which gives them a colorful and gaseous tail that travels behind them.
Despite the appearance of a comet tail, the comets are circular until they are melted by the sun. Asteroids, which are smaller than comets, are particles of rock and metal that travel through space.
They are categorized in two categories, stony and iron-nickel, although most asteroids contain both stony and iron-nickel elements. So, the new three-way categorization model was adopted. Under this model, Pluto was demoted to a dwarf planet, while other solar objects that were too big to be classified as asteroids but did not meet the requirements for a planet were also classified under dwarf planets.
However, only Ceres and Pluto have been observed in enough detail to demonstrate that they fit the definition. Hence, the other may or may not be reclassified as new information is available.
It is estimated that there may be dwarf planets in the Kuiper belt of the outer Solar System, and up to 10, in the region beyond. Hence, the main difference between a dwarf planet and an asteroid is that a dwarf planet is an asteroid that is big enough to have a gravitational force that has allowed the asteroid to compound itself to a spherical shape. If the gravitational force was strong enough to allow the asteroid to clear its orbit, in addition to shape itself, then the asteroid would be termed as a planet.
Image Courtesy: factfile. Difference between Dwarf Planet and Asteroids. Also see: Difference between dwarf planet and moons An asteroid, on the other hand, is a large chunk of rock that orbits around the sun. A " dwarf planet " is a celestial body that 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 not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, and d is not a satellite.
All other objects, except satellites, orbiting the Sun shall be referred to collectively as "Small Solar System Bodies. Categories: Space Tags: asteroid , comet , dwarf , moon , planet , Science , solar system , Space. By Omar Fink on July 25th, Enter your email address to subscribe to the content newsletter by email: Click here to preview the email newsletter.
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