Testudo
Authors: ASE Tech Team
Ceres is a dwarf planet. It was located in the main asteroid between Mars and Jupiter.
Concordance, Etymology, History
Ceres was discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi on 1 January 1801 at Palermo Astronomical Observatory, Sicily. First, they announced it as a new planet. Then Ceres was classified as an asteroid.
In 2006, Ceres was redesignated as a dwarf planet by IAU.
Origin of Constellation
Ceres was named after the patron of grain, harvest, and mother love in Roman mythology, which is also the patron goddess of Sicily.
Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation
IAU Nomenclature
The IAU considered Ceres as a dwarf planet in 2006 due to the redefinition of the "planet" category. The debate surrounding Pluto triggered IAU to formulate an official definition of a "planet". Ceres would have nearly become the fifth planet from the Sun had the initial proposal—which required only a spherical shape (hydrostatic equilibrium) and an orbit around a star—been approved.
On August 24, 2006, the IAU added the requirement that a planet must "clear the neighborhood around its orbit." Because Ceres shares its orbit with thousands of other asteroids in the asteroid belt (accounting for only 40% of the belt's mass), it failed to meet this criterion and was officially classified as a dwarf planet.
Mythology
no mythology
Weblinks
References
- References (general)
