Venus The Planet In True Color

Take a tour of the solar system's dwarf planets

For three-quarters of a century, schoolkids learned that our solar system has nine planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

But things changed nearly five years ago. On Aug. 24, 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) struck Pluto from the list, demoting it to the newly created category of " dwarf planet ." The move was spurred by the discovery of multiple large bodies orbiting even farther from the sun than distant Pluto — particularly an object called Eris, which appeared to be bigger than Pluto.

As a result, the IAU came up with a new definition of "planet": A body that circles the sun without being some other object's satellite, is large enough to be rounded by its own gravity (but not so big that it begins to undergo nuclear fusion, like a star) and has "cleared its neighborhood" of most other orbiting bodies.

Since Pluto shares orbital space with lots of other objects out in the Kuiper Belt — the ring of icy bodies beyond Neptune — it didn't make the cut. So Pluto was newly classified as a dwarf planet, which tend to be smaller than "true" planets and fall short on the "clearing your neighborhood" criterion.

Although hundreds, or perhaps thousands, more solar system bodies may eventually join the list, the IAU officially recognizes just five dwarf planets at the moment. Here's a brief tour of all five: Pluto, Eris, Haumea, Makemake and Ceres.

The dwarf planet was initially believed to be at least the size of Earth, but astronomers now know that it's about 1,455 miles across — less than 20 percent as big as our planet. And Pluto is just 0.2 percent as massive as Earth.

Pluto has an extremely elliptical orbit that's not in the same plane as the eight official planets' orbits. On average, the dwarf planet cruises around the sun at a distance of 3.65 billion miles, taking 248 years to complete one circuit.

Venus in Astrology – Ruling Planet of Taurus and Libra | Suite101.com

One of the personal planets in the astrological birth chart, the energy of Venus in astrology should not be underestimated. It is easy to perceive the goddess of love and beauty as nothing more than a pretty face and a representation of sensuality. It is true that this feminine deity and corresponding astrological planet is not as fearsome as the fiery Mars, or as frightening as Saturn, the gatekeeper, but Venus has more to do with the human experience than she is given credit for.

Venus is the goddess of love and beauty. This astrological planet is the ruler of two zodiac signs — Taurus and Libra. The Venusian quality of life is all things beautiful, pleasurable, harmonized, and in relation with the other, and on another level, with the whole.

Venus is in everyone's birth chart and all individuals are touched by the energy of this planet. In astrology, Venus represents not only the love and beauty that this goddess is so well-known for, but also the harmony or lack thereof in relationships, the desires that an individual will move mountains for to possess, and the specific joys that every person seeks to live a fulfilled life.

Venus is the appreciation that one individual may have for the glowing colors of sunset, and that another may find in the riveting sound of an electric guitar. She is the strange grace that a person may experience in the darkest of times, as well as the vanity and materialism that can become an all-consuming part of life for another.

How love, beauty, harmony, desire, and joy manifest in life is shown by the placement of Venus in the birth chart. The sign that Venus is in will be indicative of what one values and desires, and how one relates to others. The astrological house that Venus is found in will describe what aspect of life gives form to the energy of this planet. Venus aspects will show how the energy of Venus in astrology is either assisted or obstructed.

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