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posted by cmn32480 on Saturday May 20 2017, @02:49PM   Printer-friendly
from the it-might-be-Mega-Maid dept.

The dwarf planet 2007 OR10, estimated to be the fourth largest known Kuiper Belt object, has a companion:

2007 OR10 is the largest body in the solar system with no common name. And now, the no-name dwarf planet with a diameter between 800 and 950 miles (1,290–1,528km) has been discovered to have a moon.

[...] OR10 has a very slow rotation rate, which hid the moon in plain sight from Hubble for quite some time. It's a large moon for OR10's size, estimated at 150 to 250 miles (240–400km) in diameter.

The satellite was found in 2016 after astronomers analyzed Hubble images from 2010.

Many KBOs/TNOs appear to have satellites. Here's a list.

Discovery of a Satellite of the Large Trans-Neptunian Object (225088) 2007 OR10 (open, DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/aa6484) (DX)


Original Submission

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Public Asked to Vote on a Name for Dwarf Planet 2007 OR10 26 comments

The dwarf planet 2007 OR10 will get a proper name soon:

Astronomers have asked the public to help name a minor planet in our Solar System discovered in 2007.

The dwarf planet, which orbits the sun beyond Neptune, has since been referred to as (225088) 2007 OR10.

Now the scientists who discovered it are asking the public to help pick a catchier name. The options are Gonggong, Holle and Vili.

The winning name will be formally suggested to the International Astronomical Union.

Gonggong is a Chinese water god with red hair and a serpent-like tail. He is known for creating chaos, causing flooding, and tilting the Earth.

Holle is a European winter goddess of fertility, rebirth, and women, while Vili is a Nordic deity who defeated frost giant Ymir and used the body to create the universe.

Voting ends on May 10.

2007 OR10 has an estimated diameter of 1230 ± 50 km, and one known moon with a diameter less than 100 km.

Also at The Planetary Society and EarthSky.

Previously: Large Moon Confirmed Around Slowly Rotating Dwarf Planet 2007 OR10


Original Submission

Large Kuiper Belt Object 2007 OR10 Finally Given a Name: Gonggong 14 comments

2007 OR10 is now known as 225088 Gonggong, and its moon has been named Xiangliu:

Not far behind Pluto, the fifth-largest dwarf planet in the solar system hasn't had a name since it was discovered in 2007. It's just been hanging out beyond Neptune under the boring catalog designation 2007 OR10.

Well, that's officially changed as the previously largest unnamed body in the solar system is now officially Gonggong, named for a Chinese water god with the head of a human and the body of a snake.

And as a cool bonus, the tiny moon that orbits Gongong is named Xiangliu, after the minister that attended to the deity in Chinese folklore. The pair make up the first major solar system bodies to have Chinese names, according to astrophysicist Simon Porter.

Minor Planet Center.

See also: Seven Worlds in the Solar System That Could Be Just As Weird As Pluto

Standing on its surface, the icy ground would look dark and red, like Pluto. Indeed, 2007 OR10 is one of the reddest worlds astronomers know of. That reddish hue hints at the presence of complex organic compounds astronomers call tholins.

[...] Research published in 2011 [open, DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/738/2/L26] [DX] also showed that 2007 OR10 has a fresh surface covered in water ice. Astronomers think it's evidence of cryovolcanoes, where slushy ice erupts from below the surface like lava.

Previously: Large Moon Confirmed Around Slowly Rotating Dwarf Planet 2007 OR10
Public Asked to Vote on a Name for Dwarf Planet 2007 OR10


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 2) by butthurt on Saturday May 20 2017, @10:19PM (1 child)

    by butthurt (6141) on Saturday May 20 2017, @10:19PM (#512755) Journal

    The vermin only teaze and pinch
    Their foes superior by an inch.
    So, naturalists observe, a flea
    Has smaller fleas that on him prey;
    And these have smaller still to bite 'em,
    And so proceed ad infinitum.

    --Jonathan Swift, On Poetry: a Rhapsody

    "First Exo-Moon Discovered?"
    /article.pl?sid=14/04/11/0337250 [soylentnews.org]

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Monday May 22 2017, @03:29AM

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Monday May 22 2017, @03:29AM (#513295) Journal

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exomoon#Candidates [wikipedia.org]

      In December 2013, a candidate exomoon of a free-floating planet MOA-2011-BLG-262, was announced, but due to degeneracies in the modelling of the microlensing event, the observations can also be explained as a Neptune-mass planet orbiting a low-mass red dwarf, a scenario the authors consider to be more likely.[19][20][21] This candidate also featured in the news a few months later in April 2014.

      No exomoons have been confirmed to date.

      If Planet Nine gets found, we may find some of the most distant known moons there before finding exomoons.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
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