The dwarf planet’s ring makes astronomers question whether a long-held theory about ring and moon formation needs tweaking.
dwarf planets
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Ceres: Missing Craters, Crust Thickness Variation by Interior Convection
Models show that several puzzling features about Ceres’ topography, gravity anomalies, and crater size distribution may be explained by asymmetric hemispherical convection due to radiogenic heating.
Posted inNews
Pluto’s Surface Was Recently Sculpted by Icy Volcanism
Geologically young regions of Pluto’s southern hemisphere were likely resurfaced by cryovolcanism, data from the New Horizons spacecraft reveal.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Capturing Pluto’s Heartbeat in a Computer
Unprecedented global climate model simulations, incorporating observational data from the New Horizons mission, reveal atmospheric circulations driven by a large ice cap on Pluto.
Posted inNews
Ancient Impact’s Seismic Waves Reveal Pluto’s Ocean, Core
By modeling the waves produced by a massive, ancient impact, scientists have begun to unlock the secrets of Pluto’s interior.
Posted inNews
Meet Hygiea, the Smallest Dwarf Planet in Our Solar System
New observations confirm that main asteroid belt object Hygiea is round. It now fulfills all the requirements to graduate from asteroid to dwarf planet.
Posted inNews
New Findings Suggest Dwarf Planet Ceres Is Geologically Active
Cryovolcanoes, landslides, and water ice all point to current activity, researchers found.
Posted inNews
Six Things Dwarf Planets Have Taught Us About the Solar System
It's been 10 years since Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet. But no matter the label, it and its dwarf planet cousins continue to stun researchers with their complexity.
Posted inNews
New-Found Dwarf Planet Points to Solar System's Chaotic Past
Astronomers have discovered an icy ball in the dark and frigid regions of the outer solar system, which they suspect harbors secrets to the solar system's formation and evolution.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Objects That Slam into Ceres Remain on Its Surface
Hypervelocity impact experiments shed new light on the composition and evolution of the largest dwarf planet's little-known surface.