There's thirteen now?

Ceres (which could possably contain life in it's oceans!)

Ceres was actually always considered a planet by Astronomers. Then it became an asteroid then a Dwarf Planet. So poor Pluto's not the only one that they keep changing.

How does an asteroid possess oceans? Last time I checked, they put big craters in planets that wipe out life. And ya know I don't recalled being taught a planet with a name that sounds like a Final Fantasy 6 character. *l*

What's the difference between a planet and a dwarf planet?

Oh BTW... if you didn't know...our sun is a Yellow Dwarf...it's not a regular star.

(Although, if they name one of these dwarf planets "Loki" or "Ymir" or even "Thor", I will laugh.)

Also, I doubt that "things that crash into planets, create craters, and kill stuff" is the official definition of "asteroid"

(and even if it were, why would the fact of containing water stop them from doing that?)

How does an asteroid possess oceans? Last time I checked, they put big craters in planets that wipe out life.

Really now? I said that was the official definition of asteroid? Amazing! Since when was I a part of NASA?

The classification of Ceres has changed more than once and has been the subject of some disagreement. Johann Elert Bode believed Ceres to be the "missing planet" he had proposed to exist between Mars and Jupiter, at a distance of 419 million km (2.8 AU) from the Sun. Ceres was assigned a planetary symbol, and remained listed as a planet in astronomy books and tables (along with 2 Pallas, 3 Juno and 4 Vesta) for about half a century until further asteroids were discovered.

However as other objects were discovered in the area it was realised that Ceres represented the first of a class of many similar bodies. Sir William Herschel coined in 1802 the term asteroid ("star-like") for such bodies, writing "they resemble small stars so much as hardly to be distinguished from them, even by very good telescopes".

As the first such body to be discovered, it was given the designation 1 Ceres under the modern system of asteroid numbering.

The 2006 debate surrounding Pluto and what constitutes a 'planet' led to Ceres being considered for reclassification as a planet.

A proposal before the International Astronomical Union for the definition of a planet would have defined a planet as "a celestial body that has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (b) is in orbit around a star, and is neither a star nor a satellite of a planet".

Had this resolution been adopted, it would have made Ceres the fifth planet in order from the Sun. However, it was not accepted, and in its place an alternate definition of "planet" came into effect as of August 24, 2006: A planet is "a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit." By this definition, Ceres is not a planet (because it shares its orbit with the thousands of other asteroids in the main asteroid belt), and is now classified as a "dwarf planet" (along with Pluto, Makemake, Haumea and Eris). The issue of whether Ceres remains an asteroid was not addressed.

Dual classifications such as Main-belt comets do exist, and being a dwarf planet does not preclude having dual designations.

There's a planetoid called Thora, Loki is the name of a volcano on the moon Io and Ymir is a moon of Saturn.

I was wondering how in the hell does a Giant rock that has been known to wipe out life (ask the Dinosaurs, they'll tell ya all about it!) can contain oceans.

I do love how we not only classify what's a planet/dwarf/asteroid/Xbox 360/whatever, but making outlandish statements like the Sun will expire in 5 billion years because of some math equations and pictures of stars, even though the farthest we've been in space is the moon.