NASA: 10th Planet Discovered

Here is another article from NASA about the 10th planet recently discovered. In my previous post, I mentioned that scientists named it Sedna but this article from NASA shows that the official name is tentative and will still be decided by the International Astronomical Union. However, for purpose of identification, it was given the temporary name 2003 UB313. Enjoy reading. :)


Julius

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Astronomers have found a new planet in the outer reaches of the solar system.

July 29, 2005: "It's definitely bigger than Pluto." So says Dr. Mike Brown of the California Institute of Technology who announced today the discovery of a new planet in the outer solar system.

The planet, which hasn't been officially named yet, was found by Brown and colleagues using the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory near San Diego. It is currently about 97 times farther from the sun than Earth, or 97 Astronomical Units (AU). For comparison, Pluto is 40 AU from the sun.

This places the new planet more or less in the Kuiper Belt, a dark realm beyond Neptune where thousands of small icy bodies orbit the sun. The planet appears to be typical of Kuiper Belt objects...

The new planet, circled in white, moves across a field of stars on Oct. 21, 2003. The three photos were taken about 90 minutes apart. Image credit: Samuel Oschin Telescope, Palomar Observatory.

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