[troutman]

Dwarf planet discovered at solar system's edge


http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/26/tech/i...iref=obnetwork

The awkwardly-named 2012 VP113 is much farther from the sun, at 83 astronomical units. That puts it at 83 times the distance between our own planet and the sun.

But in terms of average distance from the sun, there is a dwarf planet even farther out: Eris, which Trujillo helped discover. Eris is bigger than Pluto, and has a satellite called Dysnomia. The presence of Eris helped scientists determine that Pluto should not be counted among the major planets.

Sedna, a dwarf planet that Trujillo co-discovered as well in 2004, is located in the same distant area, and takes about 10,500 years to orbit the sun.

Trujillo's study also suggests that there could be a large planet that no one has seen, way out at 250 astronomical units, affecting the orbits of Sedna and the new dwarf planet. But this is only a theory; the planet has not been detected.

Trujllio and colleagues estimate that the new dwarf planet is relatively small -- about 450 kilometers (280 miles) in diameter, which less than the driving distance from Philadelphia to Boston. It's probably ball-shaped, he said.