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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.

3 of 119 comments (clear)

  1. Re:What's a mile? by prefec2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    On space.com they provide the measurement in kilometer alongside mile

    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).

    Therefore, this is most likely an international mile. However, who cares? They also provided the diameter in a present day standard for length.

  2. Re: What's a mile? by crispytwo · · Score: 1, Interesting

    what's a yard?

  3. A Rogue Jupiter more and more likely... by BlueCoder · · Score: 1, Interesting

    In my opinion...

    The bigger it is the slower the periodic cycle but the more dramatic the events it would deliver would be. Say on the order of 200,000 years.

    Even it it doesn't collide with another planted it could send thousands of asteroids on trajectories that could impact the earth in tens of thousands of years.