Samuel's Personal Learning Journey about Dwarf Planets

THE DWARF PLANETS

Pluto, Sedna, Haumea, Makemake, Eris and Ceres

What I found out…

Pluto has an atmosphere with nitrogen and methane. It is the second largest dwarf planet and it has 5 moons. It is one third water in the form of ice. A year on Pluto is 248 years. Pluto is the brightest object in the Kuiper belt.  The Kuiper belt is beyond Neptune and Sedna (a dwarf planet in the Oort cloud).

Sedna is the second smallest dwarf planet. Sedna lives in our solar system of course. Sedna lives in the oort cloud and takes 1,500 earth years to orbit the sun.

             

Haumea has two moons or daughters and both were discovered in 2005. They are named Hi’iaka and Namaka. Namaka was discovered on the fourteenth of November 2005. One of Haumea’s daughters Hi’iaka was discovered on the eighteenth of April 2005. There is a large red spot on Haumea’s surface which may be an impact crater!

Makemake is the third largest dwarf planet.  It orbits outside Neptune which means it is a Plutoid.  It is the second brightest object in the Kuiper belt.  It has an official new moon called MK2.  MK2 is very hard to see in the Kuiper belt. Makemake is unusual because it is a reddish brown colour and it has ethane, methane and nitrogen ice on its surface.  

Eris is the largest dwarf planet.  It is found at the end of the Kuiper belt. It has one moon called Dysmonia, this means lawlessness.

 

Ceres is the smallest identified dwarf planet in our solar system.  It is the only dwarf planet in the asteroid belt.  The asteroid belt is between Mars and Jupiter.   Ceres used to be called an asteroid.  Ceres has an ice mantle.

                   

By Samuel Sutton