The discussion centers on the possibility of planetoids larger than Pluto within the solar system, exploring both known celestial bodies and the potential for undiscovered objects. It includes references to specific moons and their sizes in comparison to Pluto.
Participants express differing views on the sizes of Eris and Triton relative to Pluto, and there is no consensus on whether moons should be considered in the context of the original question about planetoids orbiting the Sun.
Some claims rely on recent measurements and definitions of planetoids versus moons, which may not be universally agreed upon. The discussion also reflects uncertainty regarding the classification of celestial bodies.
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.