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Old 12-November-2007, 06:11 PM
laurele laurele is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Mazanec View Post
Which moons would be dwarf planets if they orbited the sun independantly?
Since the distinction between "dwarf planets" and "planets" is still very much up in the air and unresolved, this becomes a very difficult question to answer. Any moon that is round, if it orbited the sun independently, would be categorized by some astronomers as a "dwarf planet" if it didn't "clear its orbit" and as a full fledged planet by those who reject this definition.

If the moon orbited the sun independently and was not round, i.e., has not achieved hydrostatic equilibrium, it would be neither a "dwarf planet" nor a "planet" but simply an asteroid.
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