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Found 16 results for dwarf planet
KHKRFM Haumea and moons, illustration. Haumea is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt. It is noted for its elongated shape, somewhat like a rugby ball. It is orbited by at least two moons and a narrow ring of rocky particles.

How to spot Haumea, one of the solar system's strangest objects

9 April 2025

Pluto isn’t the only dwarf planet in our solar system's outer reaches. Now is an ideal time to look for the egg-shaped Haumea, says Abigail Beall
Asteroid impact event. Lateral sectioned view of an asteroid impact, similar to that which is thought to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs around 65 million years ago. The impact took place at sea near the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, forming the Chicxulub crater (around 200 kilometres across). The impact threw trillions of tons of dust into the atmosphere and sent tsunamis (massive waves) around the globe, destroying coastal areas. Dust and water vapour in the atmosphere lowered global temperatures. Plant and then animal life began to die off. The dinosaurs never recovered, and mammals rose to become the dominant form of life.

Could Earth sustain life without having been hit by a dwarf planet?

6 March 2024

There are lots of ideas about how life got started on Earth, say our readers, but if an object hadn’t crashed into Earth to form the moon, as per the giant-impact hypothesis, life may not have begun
earth and sunbeam in galaxy space element finished by nasa; Shutterstock ID 280760417; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

How heavy is Earth and how much weight could it take before caving in?

14 February 2024

Earth’s mass is about 6 million million million million kilograms, say our readers – and it wouldn’t be a great idea to be in the vicinity if too much mass were added
In this Voyager 2 image of Saturn, obtained Aug. 11, 1981, from a range of 14.7 million kilometers (9.1 million miles), north is at the upper right edge of the disc. Seen above the planet are the satellites Dione (right) and Enceladus. This false-color print shows a green spot at the south edge of a yellow band; in true color, the spot would appear brown and the band white. A bright yellow spot slightly above and to the left in this image moves eastward relative to the green spot at a rate that allows it to pass the green feature in about 50 days. The convective clouds that appear between the two spots are typical of the region. Here, the smallest visible structures measure about 270 kilometers (170 miles). The Voyager project is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia01959-voyager-2-image-of-saturn

What is the probability that Voyager 1 or 2 will hit a planet or star?

10 January 2024

The likelihood of this happening is extraordinarily low, say our readers, because interstellar space is so vast
iss067e189024 (July 16, 2022) --- The sun's rays begin to illuminate the Earth's atmosphere as the International Space Station flew into an orbital sunrise 261 miles above Texas. iss067e189024 NASA ID: iss067e189024 iss067e189024 (July 16, 2022) --- The sun's rays begin to illuminate the Earth's atmosphere as the International Space Station flew into an orbital sunrise 261 miles above Texas. Date Created:2022-07-16 Center:JSC

When was the first sunrise on Earth?

19 July 2023

This is a question of how we define “Earth”, say our readers, but we also need to consider when light from the young sun could have pierced Earth’s atmosphere
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Puzzle #182: Can you work out the length of the raffle ticket strips?

24 August 2022

set by Katie Steckles
H3C989 Woman and night sky. Watching the stars Woman with telescope.

Now is the best time to see Pluto, our beloved dwarf planet

13 July 2022

Track down a telescope and pray for dark skies, as a chance to see Pluto is coming up, says Abigail Beall
TESS spacecraft in front of Earth and the moon TESS will look at the nearest, brightest stars to find planetary candidates that scientists will observe for years to come. Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center As the search for life on distant planets heats up, NASA?s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is bringing this hunt closer to home. Launching in 2017-2018, TESS will identify planets orbiting the brightest stars just outside our solar system using what?s known as the transit method. When a planet passes in front of, or transits, its parent star, it blocks some of the star's light. TESS searches for these telltale dips in brightness, which can reveal the planet's presence and provide additional information about it.

Search starlight to help astronomers discover new exoplanets

4 May 2022

Comb through observations from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite to help find new planets, says Layal Liverpool
Dwarf planet Ceres is shown in these false-color renderings, which highlight differences in surface materials.

Now is the perfect time to see dwarf planet Ceres for yourself

24 November 2021

The only dwarf planet in the inner solar system, Ceres will be at its closest to Earth for a week from the end of November. Catch it while you can, says Abigail Beall
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Puzzle #89: Do you know which car set off first?

9 December 2020

Solve this week’s fiendish puzzle Sunday drivers. Plus the answer to puzzle #88

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