Dwarf Planets

The International Astronomical Union defines a dwarf planet as a celestial body in direct orbit of the Sunthat is massive enough for its shape to be controlled by gravitation (i.e. is round), but that unlike a planet has not cleared its orbital region of other objects. There may be hundreds to thousands of dwarf planets in the solar system. We currently have named five: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris. Ceres resides in the asteroid belt. The other 4 are part of the Kuiper belt or are trans-Neptunian objects.