Dwarf planet 2012 VP 113 is the newest member of our known planetary family. The miniature world's discovery was only announced on 26 March. Some astronomers began calling the object Biden, for the VP designation in the official name.
The newly-recognized dwarf planet joins several other objects that fall into the same classification.
Pluto is the best-known of all dwarf planets and the only one that was once recognized as a major planet. It was discovered in 1930 by astronomer Clyde Tombaugh. It was the first of these bodies ever discovered. In 2006, the object was reclassified as a dwarf planet, infuriating many members of the general public.
Ceres is the dwarf planet which comes closest to Earth. This body orbits the Sun in the main asteroid belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Ceres orbits between two-and-a-half to three times further away from that Sun than the Earth. The newly-discovered VP113 is 80 times further away from the Sun than our home world.
Gravity is strong enough on Ceres to form the world into a sphere 590 miles across. This is one of the classifications that an object must have in order to be classified as a dwarf planet. Unlike full-fledged planets, these objects have not cleared the space around them of large debris.
Eris is the largest of these bodies, 2400 miles in diameter. Gravity on its surface is one-twelfth that on Earth.
Makemake is the most massive of all known dwarf planets populating the Kuiper belt, far from the Sun. This odd world has 27 percent of the mass of the Earth. The mass of VP113 has yet to be accurately calculated, but will likely be far below Makemake.
Haumea may be the oddest-shaped of all dwarf planets. Although no direct images have been taken of the distant body, measurements of light given off by the object suggest it may be an ellipsoid, with its major length twice as long as its width. Still, this meets the qualifications for classification as a dwarf planet.
VP113 is likely a sphere, as it is large enough for gravity to have pulled it into a ball.
Sedna is an odd object. This giant body is not officially a minor planet. But, this giant body may be the first member of the hypothetical Oort cloud, near the edge of the solar system. VP113 may also be a member of that group.
"[B]oth bodies may be members of the inner Oort cloud, whose objects could outnumber all other dynamically stable populations in the Solar System," researchers wrote in the article announcing VP113.
No matter what their size, VP113 has a distinction none of the other dwarf planets enjoy - it is pink. And that makes this miniature planet something special.
Congratulations on the new planet, humans. It's a girl.
