A body in our solar system that is larger than a comet or asteroid but not large enough to qualify as a major planet. This category was created by the International Astronomical Union in 2006. A dwarf planet is large enough that its gravity can pull it into a roughly spherical shape, but not large enough to clear its orbit around the Sun of other objects. As of 2011, there are five dwarf planets in the solar system: Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea (which is not spherical, but is shaped more like an egg or a potato). Ceres is in the asteroid belt, while the others are beyond the orbit of Neptune, the eighth planet from the Sun.
