• Question: Why are some planets called dwarf planets.

    Asked by bsmyth788 to Emma, Jimmy, Janet, Niall on 20 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: James Holloway

      James Holloway answered on 20 Mar 2013:

      Because they are alot smaller 🙂

      You also get dwarf stars (like brown dwarfs, which are hundreds of times smaller than normal stars).

      A more technical definition of a dwarf planet is one that is big enough so that its shape is rounded off by gravity (bigger than a satelite) but still small enough so that it hasn’t eaten up all the debris in its orbit.

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