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]

Go ahead and post your vent here. We’ll all be glad to send you a virtual pat on the back with a there-there.

Make sure you underline any part you’d like us to actually read. ;)

[Monkey Face]

Laundry done, bed made, and two documents written for Zeke.

I still haven’t had my steroid this morning, and it would seem the day is going to go downhill fast. *sigh*

Maybe tomorrow, I can go to Walmart and find some really cheap wine, since I’m a really cheap buyer... ;o]

[Monkey Face]

Lightning, thunder, RAIN, the latter of which sounds like a cow doing a wet thing on a flat rock.

Now, I’m off to have the steroid. Maybe my outlook will improve by the time I’m done.

[ArGee]

Finally fall weather here. There was actually some snow at higher elevations in NYS this weekend.

[null and void]

I’m not here. This is a recording.

};^P>

[Monkey Face]

Hahahaha!

I let the steroid do the work..

[Tax-chick]

Laundry, cleaning, choir, more cleaning ...

Soon it will be Naptime, I hope.

[Covenantor]

[Covenantor]

First world angst.

[Tax-chick]

That kitteh is going to be busy for the next few days.

[ArGee]

One bite at a time.

[Monkey Face]

This has GOT to be The. Worst. Monday. I’ve had in a long time and I don’t have enough ice cream to make it better.

So I’m going to bed. ARGH!

[ArGee]

Srsly? We can go from 1:24 to 3:45 without a post?

This isn’t a chat room it’s a nap room.

[ArGee]

Ice cream makes today better but tomorrow worse.

[Monkey Face]

Then I’ll have ice cream tomorrow!

[NoCmpromiz]

And when Kitty is done he will look like..

[Tax-chick]

Very sorry about your Monday. I hope Tuesday is better!

[Tax-chick]

I had a nap Fail, so I cooked instead. Now I’m loading up gear for Cub Scouts.

[ArGee]

Cub Scouts can be tough to gear up.

[Tax-chick]

They are going to make Minecraft-themed things out of recyclable trash items. I don’t know anything about it, but I have tape and glue and stuff.