Names for Dwarf Planets Suggested by Chief!
The IAU members gathered at the 2006 General Assembly agreed that a “planet” is defined as a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.
Buy stock in textbook publishers: the science and astronomy books are all obsolete now!
This means that the Solar System consists of eight “planets” Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
What happened to Pluto?
A new distinct class of objects called “dwarf planets” was also decided. It was agreed that “planets” and “dwarf planets” are two distinct classes of objects. The first members of the “dwarf planet” category are Ceres, Pluto and 2003 UB313 (temporary name).
Hey! Maybe 2003 UB313 could be named “Gimli”, with the next one named “Gloin”, etc. from Tolkien. Or perhaps all the dwarf planets could be renamed using the series “Grumpy”, Dopey”, “Sleepy”, etc. If the Disney and Tolkien names run out, there are also the names of the dwarf characters of the movie TIME BANDITS. The possible names go on and on…