The below table lists the dwarf planets that are either recognized by the
IAU (International Astronomical Union),
or marked with 'near certainty' in the list of dwarf planet candidates as published by Michael E. Brown.
For detailed information about one of the (candidate) dwarf planets, click on its name.
Dwarf planet |
Today |
Opposition |
designation |
magn |
radius |
delta |
elong |
phase |
date |
magn |
radius |
delta |
elong |
phase |
Ceres | 8.1 | 2.60 AU | 2.16 AU | 104.5° | 22.2° | 5 Jul 2024 | 7.3 | 2.90 AU | 1.89 AU | 173.3° | 2.3° |
Pluto | 15.1 | 34.78 AU | 34.10 AU | 131.1° | 1.3° | 21 Jul 2023 | 14.9 | 34.81 AU | 33.80 AU | 177.2° | 0.1° |
Makemake | 17.1 | 52.66 AU | 52.25 AU | 113.3° | 1.0° | 29 Mar 2024 | 17.1 | 52.68 AU | 51.80 AU | 152.0° | 0.5° |
Haumea | 17.3 | 50.06 AU | 49.40 AU | 130.7° | 0.9° | 20 Apr 2023 | 17.3 | 50.08 AU | 49.19 AU | 151.3° | 0.6° |
Eris | 18.7 | 95.75 AU | 96.43 AU | 47.2° | 0.4° | 18 Oct 2023 | 18.6 | 95.72 AU | 94.74 AU | 168.9° | 0.1° |
Quaoar | 18.8 | 42.72 AU | 41.82 AU | 151.9° | 0.6° | 29 Jun 2023 | 18.7 | 42.71 AU | 41.71 AU | 171.8° | 0.2° |
Orcus | 19.2 | 48.04 AU | 48.00 AU | 91.9° | 1.2° | 5 Mar 2024 | 19.0 | 48.03 AU | 47.10 AU | 159.5° | 0.4° |
2002 MS4 | 20.4 | 46.27 AU | 45.48 AU | 140.7° | 0.8° | 8 Jul 2023 | 20.3 | 46.26 AU | 45.29 AU | 162.9° | 0.4° |
Sedna | 20.8 | 83.78 AU | 84.75 AU | 16.4° | 0.2° | 22 Nov 2023 | 20.8 | 83.66 AU | 82.69 AU | 168.0° | 0.1° |
Salacia | 21.0 | 45.16 AU | 45.59 AU | 64.2° | 1.2° | 1 Oct 2023 | 20.9 | 45.18 AU | 44.27 AU | 155.5° | 0.5° |
Gonggong | 21.5 | 89.15 AU | 89.05 AU | 95.5° | 0.6° | 28 Aug 2023 | 21.3 | 89.20 AU | 88.19 AU | 178.7° | 0.0° |
The current positions of the recognized dwarf planets are plotted in the below all-sky chart:
Terminology:
delta: Distance between dwarf planet and earth in AU
radius: Distance between dwarf planet and sun in AU
magn: Magnitude (brightness) estimate
elong: Elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-dwarf planet)
AU: Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km
Orbital elements provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.