ERIS! In the words of wikipedia: Eris is the most massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the ninth most massive body known to directly orbit the Sun. It is estimated to be 2,326 (±12) km in diameter, and 27% more massive than Pluto, or about 0.27% of the Earths mass. Eris was discovered in January 2005 by a Palomar Observatory-based team led by Mike Brown, and its identity was verified later that year. It is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) and a member of a high-eccentricity population known as the scattered disc. It has one known moon, Dysnomia. As of 2014, its distance from the Sun is 96.4 AU,[14] roughly three times that of Pluto. With the exception of some comets, Eris and Dysnomia are currently the most distant known natural objects in the Solar System. Because Eris appeared to be larger than Pluto, its discoverers and NASA initially described it as the Solar Systems tenth planet. This, along with the prospect of other similarly sized objects being discovered in the future, motivated the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to define the term planet for the first time. Under the IAU definition approved on August 24, 2006, Eris is a dwarf planet, along with objects such as Pluto, Ceres, Haumea and Makemake.[21] However, observations of a stellar occultation by Eris in 2010 showed that its diameter was only 2326±12 km, not significantly different from the size of Pluto.[22] Given the uncertainties in their size estimates, there is a reasonable chance that Eris is actually smaller than Pluto. However, Plutos atmosphere makes determining its diameter difficult, and until the New Horizons probe arrives at Pluto the diameter is expected to remain unknown. Because of that, many scientists expect the question of the relative sizes of Eris and Pluto to remain unanswered until then.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 08:33:35 +0000
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