The realm of the dwarf planets: a view from the Virtual Telescope
The five dwarf planets of our Solar System
Our Solar System is a much more fascinating and complex place than many of us believe. Only ten years ago, astronomers decided that Pluto was indeed not a planet, but a dwarf one, creating a new class of objects in our Solar System. This decision was not an easy one and many people out there are asking to have the planetary crown back on the Pluto head. In a nutshell, all this is saying us that there are many things we still need to discover and understand, even in such a “small” place as our Solar family.
Recently, the Virtual Telescope completed its coverage of all the fine dwarf planets now part of that family. The image below show all of them: each object is marked with two white lines. Details are available for each object: Ceres, Pluto, Eris, Haumea and Makemake.
All the images were remotely taken with the PlaneWave 17″ + Paramount ME + SBIG STL-6303E robotic unit part of the Virtual Telescope.
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