MSN Home  |  My MSN  |  Hotmail
Sign in to Windows Live ID Web Search:   
go to MSNGroups 
Free Forum Hosting
 
Important Announcement Important Announcement
The MSN Groups service will close in February 2009. You can move your group to Multiply, MSN’s partner for online groups. Learn More
Southern History and Topics[email protected] 
  
What's New
  
  Messages  
  General  
  Ghost Encounters  
  Confed's Trivia  
  H K Edgerton  
  Required Reading  
  Pictures  
  Calander  
    
  Links  
  Holidays & Flags  
  
  
  Tools  
 
Ghost Encounters : Beyond Pluto
Choose another message board
View All Messages
  Prev Message  Next Message       
Reply
 Message 23 of 35 in Discussion 
From: MSN NicknameGreystarfish1  in response to Message 1Sent: 10/30/2006 7:19 PM
The link is at http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/feature_stories/ceres_dwarf.asp  .This is an article about dwarf planets from NASA.  Teresa

Ceres Designated a 'Dwarf Planet'

Members of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) gathered at the second General Assembly on August 24, 2006 and voted on an official definition of planet. A "planet" is defined as 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 and (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.  It is the last criterion (C) that eliminates Ceres from full planet status. The IAU defined a new category of planets designated as “dwarf planets,�?which have the above properties but reside in a region of the Solar System populated by smaller objects. The current status of planets in the Solar System is the eight classical planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune). Pluto, Charon (its moon), and Ceres are dwarf planets.

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."
+ Learn about the IAU Resolutions
+ Read an opinion of IAU's decision
+ What are the educational implications of the new definition?