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.

[Covenantor]

Well, fact is that vectored thrust in early models is an iffy thing. Uncontrolled aft burner gyration in PUP-Mk-I smoothed out with product maturity.

[moose07]

Such a thought never even crossed my mind. (((Hugs)))
:)

[Monkey Face]

Dang that dog s fast!

[Monkey Face]

I’m sure! LOL!

Maybe tomorrow I’ll do better, since today I was pretty preoccupied with the stupidity that runs rampant in this place during get-togethers of any kind. And now, I’m sleepy. My bad.

[Covenantor]

What should scare anyone more is that the trainer wss prepared for the dog strike, yet...

Would love to see some predatory jamoke introduced to “Rocket”.

[moose07]

The new short range intercepter dog.
The USPS’s worst nightmare.
Currently being tested for Carrier based operations.

[Monkey Face]

THAT would be interesting! LOL!

[moose07]

“I’m sleepy “

I often wake up tired.
Sleep well my friend. :)

[Covenantor]

We din see nuttin....

Moose don't give a ....

[moose07]

Just a live fire demonstration, nothing to worry about.
People blame the Moose for wrecking their cars...the moose blame the motorist. This is a product test. :)

[Covenantor]

Ahh yes... I can see that now. They were ready with the extinguisher pond.

[NoCmpromiz]

You have no idea how much that ice generator is costing to run....Should be next to nil.. I understand that it's solar powered. ;-)

[NoCmpromiz]

In which case we might need their collaborative efforts because.. zombies and such.

[moose07]

Sssshhhh, don’t endanger the UN Research grant. LoL.

[NoCmpromiz]

Couple of comments here.. Union Pacific treats its steam fleet well. They just spent a fistfull of dollars doing a complete rebuild of the 844. When they venture out on the mainline they (almost) always have a diesel in the consist but it is not there for motive power. They invariably find a wye or a turntable to turn the steam around for proper return running. Most of the time the diesel is along for the ride. Its purpose in the consist is two fold (listed in order of importance).

1) Dynamic brakes. Steam power is great but they don't have this feature. This saves brake shoes on those downgrades of which there are many in UP territory.

2) Rescue in the event that something does happen to the 844 out on the road. This saves having to dispatch a rescue team, and allows the train to get out of the way of the mainlins if it can't be 'fixed' immediately.

[Not A Snowbird]

They’re in central California. We’ll be about three hours closer to them when we move.

[Not A Snowbird]

The only kid I have even dating is dating a man I wouldn’t want to be related to so I’m not in a hurry to hear any grandkid news.

Yikes! Our daughter dragged home her share of terrifying boyfriends before she finally found a decent one.

[NoCmpromiz]

It’s not so bad.

Then it dawns on you.

That’s a half century...

[NoCmpromiz]

don’t endanger the UN Research grant

No danger at all.

The grant is to convert the cycle into wind power. This will insure many decades of funding.

Unless sanity returns somewhere down the road.

[NicknamedBob]

I like translating my age into years for the planet Mercury.