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.

[ArGee]

I don’t know if anyone remembers Tim Tebow but he apparently homered off his first pitch in the instructional league.

[ArGee]

Lissen, if you’re gonna go steppin out you gotta look good. Wassa point of havin a truck if you don’t look good steppin out in it?

[ArGee]

Reminds me of when I saw Sam McFly on his way to get his vasectomy and he was dressed to the 9s. I asked him why he was so dressed up to go get his vasectomy and he said, “Man, if you gonna be impotent, you gotta look impotent.”

[Tax-chick]

I sympathize!

I’ve had a rest with Jake for the first time in a while. He’s taken to hiding in the little boys’ room.

I’m about to serve up a casserole, and later we’ll go to yoga.

[null and void]

[Tax-chick]

LOL!

[Silentgypsy]

Har de har har :-p

[Silentgypsy]

thinking about Naptime

Looked like you were thinking about Neptune.

[Silentgypsy]

Wow! Did you know that he was born in the Philippines?

[NicknamedBob]

Gets kinda quiet here in the evenings.

[Silentgypsy]

I love a quiet evening....

[Tax-chick]

I can’t remember the last time I thought about Neptune. We bring up Poseidon sometimes, but nobody’s that into to the Roman versions.

[Tax-chick]

[ArGee]

Now I do.

[Monkey Face]

I had a little DSH that had markings on her head like that. Otherwise, she was white. And an excellent mouser! Even having a leg in a cast didn’t slow her down much. :o]

[Monkey Face]

70 degrees, partly cloudy, 43%, SE @ 1 mph

I have no idea why I am up so early...

[Covenantor]

These are kiddie pedal cars.

[Covenantor]

I have no idea why I am up so early...

[Tax-chick]

Good morning. It’s just getting light here.

[Tax-chick]

Mew.