Planet you've probably never heard of

cnn.com ^ | 8:56 PM ET, Fri February 20, 2015 | Amanda Barnett, CNN

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

(CNN)Way out beyond Mars, but before you get to Jupiter, is a planet.

You read that right. There's a planet between Mars and Jupiter.

You may not have heard of it, but it was discovered in 1801 -- 129 years before Pluto. It originally was called a planet, then later an asteroid and now it's called a dwarf plane

Its name is Ceres (pronounced like series) and you'll likely be hearing a lot more about it in the coming weeks.

[CharlesOConnell]

Incomparable genius Gauss, predicted its position.

He got annoyed and decided to publish some of his work.

No seeker after fame.

Peer of Newton and Archimedes.

[thackney]

A secret just between us.

Cheers

[Terry L Smith]

Ceres is closer than Pluto.

Relative sizes:

Our moon = 3474 kilometers across.

Pluto = 2320 kilometers across.

Ceres = 925 kilometers across.

The name of the goddeess Ceres, is tied to grain, which is used for what?

Anyone?

Cereal!!!

[doug from upland]

You nailed it. I kept blowing up the image larger and larger and look what I found.

[Tucker39]

That one mention of “Sinus Medii”.
Then it’s really a big booger and not a planet?

[left that other site]

And I promise i won’t even mention Uranus.

[Flick Lives]

Ok. Bring extra sunblock when visiting Canis Majoris.

[bgill]

First, Pluto was a planet. Then it wasn’t. Now, they’re talking about reinstating planethood or something. And here we have this little known planet, not a planet, planet maybe all over again with Ceres. It’s always fun with scientists flip flop.

[bgill]

The dwarf planet Ceres is about the size of Texas

Ha, Texas is as big as a planet! When Sheila finds out, she'll want the flag planted on it.

[namvolunteer]

“Ceres is actually a better target for colonization than Mars!”

Yeah, it’ll be just like the 1940 London night bombings with infinite air raids and sirens!
Wheeiieee! and Wow!

[Slyfox]

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Amazing!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Ernest. And why not? Extra to APoD.

[urbanpovertylawcenter]

Mr. President, will a man ever land on Uranus?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for the info.

[Inyo-Mono]

Interesting.

[null and void]

This is Hugh!

[GraceG]

[ “Ceres is actually a better target for colonization than Mars!”

Yeah, it’ll be just like the 1940 London night bombings with infinite air raids and sirens!
Wheeiieee! and Wow! ]

The asteroid belt is not as chaotic as holly weird portrays it to be.

[Slings and Arrows]

All hail Discordia!

[cripplecreek]

The asteroid belt is not as chaotic as holly weird portrays it to be.

I've read that the average distance between asteroids is over a million miles with most things moving in more or less the same direction.

No vast field of tumbling rocks. Just a dark starry sky.