New Dwarf Planet Discovered In Outer Solar System (seeker.com)

astroengine quotes a report from Seeker: Astronomers have found another Pluto-like dwarf planet located about 20 times farther away from the sun than Neptune. The small planet, dubbed 2015 RR245, is estimated to be about 435 miles in diameter and flying in an elliptical, 700-year orbit around the sun. At closest approach, RR245 will be about 3.1 billion miles from the sun, a milestone it is expected to next reach in 2096. At its most distant point, the icy world is located about 7.5 billion miles away. It was found by a joint team of astronomers using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) on Maunakea, Hawaii, in images taken in September 2015 and analyzed in February. The discovery was announced on Monday in the Minor Planet Electronic Circular.

Comments

Re:What's a mile?

[Rei]

Agreed. I'm working with an engineer from the US on a project and the difference is a constant headache for us. It's not just about calculations, it's also about intuitive understandings (if I say a beam that's 40x80mm, or he says one that's 3"x3", it's important that the other get an immediate sense of what exactly that means). It's about knowledge of the market, whether elements in particular dimensions are actually available. It's about the ability to double check other people's calculations just by looking at them, without having to run everything through a bunch of conversions. It's about the need to constantly insert conversions into everything you write just to make sure that the other person is on the same page. And yes, it's about mistakes. I wasted a lot of time on an approach that depended on M10 screws when the other person had intended #10 screws... my fault on that one, but still, it's frustrating that this difference in measures and standards exists.