New Dwarf Planet Discovered Far Beyond Pluto's Orbit

space.com ^ | 07/11/2016

[BenLurkin]

Pluto isn't quite as lonely as scientists had thought.

Astronomers have discovered another dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt, the ring of icy objects beyond Neptune. But this newfound world, dubbed 2015 RR245, is much more distant than Pluto, orbiting the sun once every 700 Earth years, scientists said. (Pluto completes one lap around the sun every 248 Earth years.)

"The icy worlds beyond Neptune trace how the giant planets formed and then moved out from the sun," discovery team member Michele Bannister, of the University of Victoria in British Columbia, said in a statement. "They let us piece together the history of our solar system."

...

The exact size of 2015 RR245 is not yet known, but the researchers think it's about 435 miles (700 kilometers) wide. Pluto is the largest resident of the Kuiper Belt, with a diameter of 1,474 miles (2,371 km).

The research team first spotted 2015 RR245 in February of this year, while poring over images that the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii took in September 2015 as part of the ongoing Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS).

"There it was on the screen — this dot of light moving so slowly that it had to be at least twice as far as Neptune from the sun," Bannister said.

[Tax-chick]

They would like a mouse, please.

[Covenantor]

Watch the birdie.

[Tax-chick]

LOL!

[Monkey Face]

63 degrees, 18%, E @ 4 mph, dew point 32.

Gack! Thermal shirts and light velour slacks will be the Uniform of the Day for the next six months! I just need to find more of each, is all...

[ArGee]

#SeniorLivessMatter

It is time.

[Tax-chick]

True.

[Tax-chick]

That’s sounds like lovely weather!

I went to Walmart. Two packages of 1/3-off ground beef and three 70%-off cakes.

[Monkey Face]

Cold enough for me that the incentive to swap out my summer-for-winter clothes was just too much. The summer clothes have been put away and the winter clothes are awaiting their hanging. The pain got to be too much so I’m taking a break. I even managed to find some to give away, as I do every seasonal swap. I almost hugged my fleece slacks!

And Second Breakfast was good. Bacon, eggs and a short stack. None of the waffles looked good. Coffee and orange juice. And it was COLD out, with a wet head and the wind blowing as it was. But I need to get used to it, for sure.

[Tax-chick]

I want to be cold! My shoulders are aching terribly this morning. I must be tense.

[ArGee]

Past tense or present tense?

[Monkey Face]

I don’t do well in the cold, as my brain gets numb and refuses to function. But ever since the car accident which happened in the winter, I have a tough time with adjusting to the cold.

[Tax-chick]

Both, probably, as well as future.

[ArGee]

The past, the present, and the future walked into a bar.

It was tense.

[Monkey Face]

*groan*

[Tax-chick]

Pat laughed. Pat’s laugh is nervewracking.

[moose07]

LoL, timing is everything.
A once in a dogs life event.

[ArGee]

Dear women,

We hate periods, too

Signed,
Commas

[ArGee]

Q: What’s the key to a good joke?

A: I don’t know. What is the key to a

Timing.

[moose07]

Ah, the dusting off of a classic ! :)

[Covenantor]

I loved that nano second pause as the dog realized his opportunity and seized it forthwith.