Wednesday, February 01, 2006

New Solar System Object Larger than Pluto

German scientists have determined the odd object well past Pluto, 2003 UB313 (discovered, as one would think, in 2003) has a diameter of 3,000 kilometers. That's 700 km larger than Pluto, the smallest planet. 2003 UB313's orbit averages nearly nearly 9 billion miles from Earth.
So, is this thing the Solar Systems' 10th planet, or is Pluto not a planet? The IAU will have to sort that out.
And what's it called, anyway? Co-discoverer Mike Brown of Cal Tech hates the clumsy designation 2003 UB313. He said, "It can't get an official name until it has an official status and right now it doesn't have an official status, so it can't get a name." Stay tuned.

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