Our solar system is home to eight planets, including four giants. In recent decades, it has been enriched by five dwarf planets : how do these small celestial bodies challenge researchers’ knowledge ? Since Pluto was demoted to the rank of "dwarf planet", it has been joined by Ceres, Pluto, Hauméa, MakéMaké and Eris. Located for the most part at the edge of our solar system, in the Kuiper Belt, these extremely rich worlds are shaking up our knowledge. Hauméa is perhaps the strangest of them all, with its cigar shape and the presence of a ring, a feature thought to be reserved for giant planets ! Our "fantastic 5" are packed with valuable information : they are the remains of the formation of the solar system, just over 4.5 billion years ago.
