It was a burning question of mine for a while now:

I understand that dwarf planets like Pluto and Ceres aren’t considered planets of the solar system, but why are they called ‘dwarf PLANETS’ if they aren’t planets.

And no one really says, “the sun isn’t a star, it’s a Dwarf Star”. Nor is it declassified as one because of it.

So, why are dwarf planets not planets, but dwarf stars are stars?

  • Deadrek
    5·
    8 hours ago

    For the same reason that a little fire and big fire are both fires but a small rock is a pebble while a big rock is a boulder. Fire is more about what something is doing while rocks are more about what they are.