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Leumas71
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I wonder is there a planetoid bigger than pluto in the solar system or is it possible that there could be a planet that orbits the sun but is to remote to see.
The issue was brought to a head by the discovery of Eris, an object in the scattered disc far beyond the Kuiper belt, that is now known to be 27 percent more massive than Pluto.
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Though Pluto is the largest KBO, a number of objects outside the Kuiper belt which may have begun their lives as KBOs are larger. Eris is the most obvious example, but Neptune's moon Triton, which, as explained above, is probably a captured KBO, is also larger than Pluto.
Leumas71 said:...a planet that orbits the sun...
cepheid said:Actually, it just occurred to me that if Triton is bigger than Pluto, then it stands to reason that some of the moons of the Jovian planets might be as well. Indeed, the "Galilean" moons of Jupiter (Ganymede, Europa, Io, and Callisto), are ALL larger than Pluto, as is Saturn's moon Titan. EDIT: and Earth's moon too.
Algr said:Ganymede and Titan are even bigger then Mercury.
A planetoid is a small celestial body that is larger than an asteroid but smaller than a planet. It is also commonly referred to as a dwarf planet.
Yes, there is a planetoid called Eris that is actually larger than Pluto. It was discovered in 2005 and is currently the largest known planetoid in our solar system.
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefined the criteria for what constitutes a planet. According to their new definition, a planet must meet three criteria: it must orbit the sun, it must have enough mass to assume a nearly round shape, and it must have cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. Eris does not meet the third criteria, as it is in a crowded region of our solar system known as the Kuiper Belt.
Yes, there are several other known planetoids in our solar system, including Ceres, Haumea, Makemake, and Sedna. However, there may be many more that have not been discovered yet.
It is possible that there could be planetoids larger than Pluto in other solar systems. However, our current technology and methods of detection make it difficult to accurately detect and measure these distant objects. As our technology advances, we may discover more planetoids in other solar systems.