Let's call it Mondas

[khaosworks]

Astronomers detect '10th planet'
By Dr David Whitehouse
Science Editor BBC news website

Artist's impression of Planet 2003 UB313 Astronomers in the United States have announced the discovery of the 10th planet to orbit our Sun.

The largest object found in our Solar System since Neptune was discovered in 1846, it was first seen in 2003 but has only now been confirmed as a planet.

Designated 2003 UB313, it is about 3,000km across, a world of rock and ice and somewhat larger than Pluto.

Scientists say it is three times as far away as Pluto, in an orbit at an angle to the orbits of the other planets.

Astronomers think that at some point in its history, Neptune likely flung it into its highly-inclined 44-degree orbit.

It is currently 97 Earth-Sun distances away - more than twice Pluto's average distance from the Sun.

Bigger than Pluto

Its discoverers are Michael Brown of Caltech, Chad Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii, and David Rabinowitz of Yale University.

"It's not every day that you find something Pluto-sized or larger! "
Chad Trujillo

David Rabinowitz told the BBC News website: "It has been a remarkable day and a remarkable year. 2003 UB313 is probably larger than Pluto. It is fainter than Pluto, but three times farther away.

"Brought to the same distance from the Sun as Pluto, it would be brighter. So today, the world knows that Pluto is not unique. There are other Plutos, just farther out in the Solar System where they are a little harder to find."

It was picked up using the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory and the 8m Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea.

Slow mover

Chad Trujillo told the BBC News website: "I feel extremely lucky to be part of a discovery as exciting as this. It's not every day that you find something Pluto-sized or larger!"

"The spectra that we took at the Gemini Observatory are particularly interesting because it shows that the surface of 2003 UB313 is very similar to that of Pluto."

The object was first observed on 21 October 2003, but the team did not see it move in the sky until looking at the same area 15 months later on 8 January 2005.

The researchers say they tried looking for it with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is sensitive to heat radiation, but failed to detect it.

This gives them an upper limit of its size of 3,000 km, they say. The lower limit still makes it larger than Pluto.

The discovery of 2003 UB313 comes just after the announcement of the finding of 2003 EL61, which appears to be a little smaller than Pluto.

Comments

[billroper]

Sadly, this is a better argument for downgrading Pluto to the status of "Kuiper belt object" than for calling the new object "Planet X".

[wcg.livejournal.com]

The compelling argument for continuing to call Pluto a planet is that it's large enough to be self-gravitating. There's no doubt in the mind of any serious astronomer today that Pluto and Charon are Kuiper Belt objects. But that is not a bar to the designation planet. When the term 'minor planet' came into use the distinction adopted at the time was that minor planets were not large enough to impose sufficient self-gravitation to make themselves spherical. Pluto and Charon both obviously do have that measure of self-gravity, as does this newly discovered object. Historically the large moons like Charon and Jupiter's Gallilean moons have been designated 'moons' because they are gravitationally bound to their companion planet, so Charon, the Gallilean moons, Titan, and our own moon have been excluded from the count of planets even though they would otherwise qualify. They are all certainly too massive to be minor planets.

[dan-ad-nauseam.livejournal.com]

What about Gaspra?

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Definitely a minor planet. At only 19 km in its longest axis, it has nowhere near enough mass to be self gravitating.

[tavella.livejournal.com]

Thing is, any designation other than 'round by gravity' for where to mark the break between planets and other objects is *always* going to be arbitrary. Yes, Pluto is the second-largest of a group of icy objects beyond Neptune... but Mercury is fourth-largest of a group of rocky objects inside Jupiter's orbit. Is Mercury going to get booted if we find a Mercury-sized planet beyond Neptune?

[ddreslough.livejournal.com]

Does that mean I'm still an Aquarius? :)

[aunty_marion]

Of course not. Aquarians don't believe in astrology. :)

[cheshyre]

For your cut tag text, I have to say "I love you"

[zsero.livejournal.com]

Look, if people can't give up the idea of nine planets, why not downgrade Pluto, and upgrade this new object to take its place. We can even keep everything the way it was, by renaming Pluto to Pseudo-Pluto, and calling the new object Pluto.

Or just accept reality and get a new mnemonic. Eight planets, people. Eight. Four little ones and four big ones. Balance, see?