Dwarf planet

Astronomers have found more evidence of giant ice volcanoes on Pluto. New analysis of data and images gathered by the New Horizons mission have revealed unique surface structures that seem to have been produced by something known as cryovolcanism.

For a long time, Pluto was the farthest object we knew in the solar system, but it’s a cosmic stone’s-throw away compared to more recent discoveries. Now astronomers have confirmed the most distant world of all – the appropriately-named Farfarout.

Research has shed light on how Pluto’s heart-shaped plane of frozen nitrogen creates winds in the planet’s thin atmosphere, that lead to discolorations on its bright surface. The study used information collected by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft.

In 2006, Pluto was downgraded from planet to dwarf planet – and now, based on the same definition an object in the asteroid belt may need to be upgraded from asteroid to dwarf planet. New observations of asteroid Hygiea suggest it fits the criteria.

Astronomers are welcoming the newest and most distant object in the solar system – a dwarf planet orbiting more than 100 times further from the Sun than Earth. And because its discoverers aren’t the most creative bunch, it’s been dubbed “Farout.”

There could be thousands of dwarf planets – Pluto-sized or smaller – lurking at the very edges of the Sun’s influence. Now, astronomers have spotted a new distant dwarf with an incredibly wide orbit, lending further evidence to the idea that a much bigger “Planet X” is out there somewhere.

Pluto was demoted from planet status to dwarf planet in 2006. But a new study suggests it should be resurrected as a planet, since the definition the object failed to meet was not based on precedents set in scientific literature.

Evidence is growing for a ninth planet lurking on the edges of the Solar System. Objects out there move in ways that suggest an unseen world is pulling on them, but new calculations suggest that there is no Planet Nine – these distant objects might just be jostling each other like bumper cars.

Two new studies have used data gathered by NASA’s Dawn mission to determine that the dwarf planet Ceres’ salty, icy crust could be the remains of an ancient global ocean – and there may still be some liquid water locked up deep beneath the surface.

Astronomers have observed an occultation of a distant star to get a better look at the little-known dwarf planet Haumea, which orbits the Sun beyond Neptune. Scientists were able to pin down the planet’s size, shape and density, and make a surprising new discovery: Haumea has a rocky ring around it.

New data from NASA's Dawn spacecraft suggests that Ceres' surface is too strong to be dominated by ice.

​​NASA scientists have taken their first look at the interior of the dwarf planet Ceres, by tracking tiny alterations in the motion of the Dawn spacecraft as it continues to orbit the enigmatic planetoid.