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    Pluto & Eris, the 2 largest known dwarf planets. Pluto is very slightly larger than Eris but Eris has 27% more mass. Discovery of Eris (initially termed as 10th planet by NASA) led to a new defintion of planets. Image of Eris here is an artist's conception, Pluto's image was taken by New Horizons.
    Space

    Pluto & Eris, the 2 largest known dwarf planets. Pluto is very slightly larger than Eris but Eris has 27% more mass. Discovery of Eris (initially termed as 10th planet by NASA) led to a new defintion of planets. Image of Eris here is an artist’s conception, Pluto’s image was taken by New Horizons.


    Pluto & Eris, the 2 largest known dwarf planets. Pluto is very slightly larger than Eris but Eris has 27% more mass. Discovery of Eris (initially termed as 10th planet by NASA) led to a new defintion of planets. Image of Eris here is an artist’s conception, Pluto’s image was taken by New Horizons.

    https://i.redd.it/7fuewo79fsye1.png

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    2. PizzaPizzaPizza_69 on

      Is any mission interested in Eris?? will we get some real pictures of that dwarf planet anytime future??

    3. F_cK-reddit on

      Fun fact: Eris is the most distant dwarf planet in the solar system, and is 96 times further from the sun than Earth.

    4. 3d_blunder on

      So, Eris is spectacularly DENSE? Does this mean its mostly metallic, or what?

    5. lighthorizon222 on

      “A portion of Clyde Tombaugh’s ashes were included on NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft when it launched towards Pluto in 2006. The spacecraft, carrying the ashes in a small canister, traveled for nine years to make the first exploration of Pluto. The New Horizons probe reached Pluto in 2015, and the ashes were on board for that historical flyby.”

    6. NotAnAIOrAmI on

      Well, we have to fix this injustice.

      Eris is now a planet (by mass). Pluto, still not.

      There, that should make *everyone* happy!

    7. Decronym on

      Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:

      |Fewer Letters|More Letters|
      |——-|———|—|
      |[CSA](/r/Space/comments/1keng3b/stub/mqkor3p “Last usage”)|Canadian Space Agency|
      |[ESA](/r/Space/comments/1keng3b/stub/mqkor3p “Last usage”)|European Space Agency|
      |[ISRO](/r/Space/comments/1keng3b/stub/mqkor3p “Last usage”)|Indian Space Research Organisation|
      |[JAXA](/r/Space/comments/1keng3b/stub/mqkor3p “Last usage”)|Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency|
      |[Roscosmos](/r/Space/comments/1keng3b/stub/mqkor3p “Last usage”)|[State Corporation for Space Activities, Russia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscosmos_State_Corporation)|

      |Jargon|Definition|
      |——-|———|—|
      |[perihelion](/r/Space/comments/1keng3b/stub/mqm3lnu “Last usage”)|Lowest point in an elliptical orbit around the Sun (when the orbiter is fastest)|

      Decronym is now also available on Lemmy! Requests for support and new installations should be directed to the Contact address below.

      —————-
      ^(6 acronyms in this thread; )[^(the most compressed thread commented on today)](/r/Space/comments/1kd9aqm)^( has 23 acronyms.)
      ^([Thread #11318 for this sub, first seen 4th May 2025, 18:29])
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    9. Pitiful_Jello_1911 on

      Sort of a very un related question but I’m curious bc I went down a rabbit hole. The Kuiper belt surrounds us but it surrounds us on one axis? Or is it above below and all around the sun. If that makes sense

    11. UF1977 on

      NASA doesn’t classify space bodies as planets or dwarf planets or what have you. That’s done by the International Astronomical Union, an NGO made up of professional astronomers and other space scientists. The IAU also agrees on names for newly discovered objects.