Sedna (dwarf planet) in the context of "Ceres (dwarf planet)"

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⭐ Core Definition: Sedna (dwarf planet)

Sedna (minor-planet designation: 90377 Sedna) is a dwarf planet in the outermost reaches of the Solar System, orbiting the Sun far beyond the orbit of Neptune. It was discovered in 2003, and is roughly 1,000 km in diameter. Spectroscopic analysis has revealed its surface to be a mixture of the solid ices of water, carbon dioxide, and ethane, along with sedimentary deposits of methane-derived, reddish-colored tholins, a chemical makeup similar to the surfaces of other trans-Neptunian objects. Sedna is not expected to have a substantial atmosphere. Within the range of uncertainty, it is tied with Ceres in the asteroid belt as the largest dwarf planet not known to have a moon. Owing to its lack of known moons, Sedna's mass and density remain unknown.

Sedna takes approximately 11,400 years to complete one orbit around the Sun. Its orbit is one of the widest known in the Solar System. Its aphelion is located 937 astronomical units (AU) away, about 19 times farther than that of Pluto. Sedna's orbit is also one of the most elliptical discovered, with an eccentricity of 0.85. As of February 2025, Sedna is 83.2 AU (12.4 billion km) from the Sun, 2.5 times as far away as Neptune.

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Sedna (dwarf planet) in the context of Small Solar System body

A small Solar System body (SSSB) is an object in the Solar System that is neither a planet, a dwarf planet, nor a natural satellite. The term was first defined in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) as follows: "All other objects, except satellites, orbiting the Sun shall be referred to collectively as 'Small Solar System Bodies'".

This encompasses all comets and all minor planets other than those that are dwarf planets. Thus SSSBs are: the comets; the classical asteroids, with the exception of the dwarf planet Ceres; the trojans; and the centaurs and trans-Neptunian objects, with the exception of the dwarf planets Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, Quaoar, Orcus, Sedna, Gonggong and Eris and others that may turn out to be dwarf planets.

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Sedna (dwarf planet) in the context of Sednoid

A sednoid is a trans-Neptunian object with a large semi-major axis, a distant perihelion and a highly eccentric orbit, similar to that of the dwarf planet Sedna. The consensus among astronomers is that there are only four objects that are known from this population: Sedna, 2012 VP113, 541132 Leleākūhonua, and 2023 KQ14. All four have perihelia greater than 60 AU. The sednoids are also classified as detached objects, since their perihelion distances are large enough that Neptune's gravity does not strongly influence their orbits. Some astronomers consider the sednoids to be Inner Oort Cloud (IOC) objects. The inner Oort cloud, or Hills cloud, lies at 1,000–10,000 AU from the Sun.

One attempt at a precise definition of sednoids is any body with a perihelion greater than 50 AU and a semi-major axis greater than 150 AU.However, this definition applies to the objects 2013 SY99, 2020 MQ53, and 2021 RR205 which have perihelia beyond 50 AU and semi-major axes over 700 AU. Despite this, astronomers do not classify these objects as sednoids because their orbits still experience gradual orbital migration as a result of perturbations by galactic tides and Neptune's weak gravitational influence.

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Sedna (dwarf planet) in the context of List of possible dwarf planets

The number of dwarf planets in the Solar System is unknown. Estimates have run as high as 200 in the Kuiper belt and over 10,000 in the region beyond.However, consideration of the surprisingly low densities of many large trans-Neptunian objects, as well as spectroscopic analysis of their surfaces, suggests that the number of dwarf planets may be much lower, perhaps only nine among bodies known so far. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) defines dwarf planets as being in hydrostatic equilibrium, and notes six bodies in particular: Ceres in the inner Solar System and five in the trans-Neptunian region: Pluto, Eris, Haumea, Makemake, and Quaoar. Only Pluto and Ceres have been confirmed to be in hydrostatic equilibrium, due to the results of the New Horizons and Dawn missions. Eris is generally assumed to be a dwarf planet because it is similar in size to Pluto and even more massive. Haumea and Makemake were accepted as dwarf planets by the IAU for naming purposes and will keep their names if it turns out they are not dwarf planets. Smaller trans-Neptunian objects have been called dwarf planets if they appear to be solid bodies, which is a prerequisite for hydrostatic equilibrium: planetologists generally include at least Gonggong, Orcus, and Sedna. Quaoar was labelled as a dwarf planet in a 2022–2023 annual report, though it does not appear to be in hydrostatic equilibrium. In practice the requirement for hydrostatic equilibrium is often loosened to include all gravitationally rounded objects, even by the IAU, as otherwise Mercury would not be a planet.

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Sedna (dwarf planet) in the context of Solar System object

The following is a list of Solar System objects by orbit, ordered by increasing distance from the Sun. Most named objects in this list have a diameter of 500 km or more.

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Sedna (dwarf planet) in the context of 541132 Leleākūhonua

541132 Leleākūhonua (/ˌlɛlɑːˌkhˈnə/; provisional designation 2015 TG387) is an extreme trans-Neptunian object and sednoid in the outermost part of the Solar System. It was first observed on 13 October 2015, by astronomers at the Mauna Kea Observatories, Hawaii. Based on its discovery date near Halloween and the letters in its provisional designation 2015 TG387, the object was informally nicknamed "The Goblin" by its discoverers and later named Leleākūhonua, comparing its orbit to the flight of the Pacific golden plover. It was the third sednoid discovered, after Sedna and 2012 VP113, and measures around 220 kilometers (140 miles) in diameter.

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