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Mass of Dwarf Planet Eris 27% Greater than Pluto

Posted by Zonk on from the she-wants-a-bite-of-the-apple dept.

jcgam69 writes "When it was discovered in 2005, some thought Eris should be considered the 10th planet of our solar system. Everyone still considered Pluto a planet then. At first, Eris was thought to be slightly larger. Now — with the help of Eris' moon — Eris is known to be 27% more massive than Pluto. If Pluto had remained a planet to the entire community of astronomers, surely Eris would be considered the 10th planet."

7 of 220 comments (clear)

  1. Haiku on a Distant Rock by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Poor lonely Pluto;
    No one loves you now but me.
    And Clyde Tombaugh's urn.

    1. Re:Haiku on a Distant Rock by Forge · · Score: 4, Funny

      Great. Now everyone knows where I found my desktop wallpaper.

      --
      --= Isn't it surprising how badly I spell ?
  2. New Nmemonic by DTC · · Score: 5, Funny

    My Very Excellent Mother Just Serverd Us Nine Pizzas- Excelsior!

  3. Hail Eris! by subl33t · · Score: 5, Funny

    All Hail Discordia!

    Hail yes!

    fnord.

  4. Ah, astronomers... by UbuntuDupe · · Score: 4, Funny

    Remember: just now they figured out which of Eris and Pluto is more massive...

    but they also know the internal density distributions of extrasolar planets that barely take up a pixel on the most powerful telescopes.

    --
    Apology to Ubuntu forum.
  5. Dwarf Planet is so Politically Incorrect... by sconeu · · Score: 4, Funny

    Pluto and Eris prefer the term "Gravitationally Challenged".

    --
    General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  6. Re:If it's round by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 5, Funny
    Can you point me at a round asteroid in the belt?

    OK, look up. A little more to your left. A bit more. OK, just a little bit more. Nope, that's too far. Just a hair back to your right. There! See it?