Astronomers have found a new dwarf planet far beyond Pluto’s orbit, suggesting that this distant realm contains millions of undiscovered objects — including, perhaps, a world larger than Earth. The newfound celestial body, called 2012 VP113, joins the dwarf planetSedna as a confirmed resident of a far-flung and largely unexplored region scientists call the “inner Oort Cloud.” Further, 2012 VP113 and Sedna may have been pulled into their long, looping orbits by a big planet lurking unseen in these frigid depths. “These two objects are just the tip of the iceberg,” study co-author Chadwick Trujillo, of the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii, told Space.com. “They exist in a part of the solar system that we used to think was pretty devoid of matter. It just goes to show how little we actually know about the solar system.” [New Dwarf Planet Photos
The orbits of Sedna (orange) and dwarf planet 2012 VP113 (red).
Also shown are the orbits of the giant planets (purple).
The Kuiper belt is the dotted light blue region. Illustration: Scott S Sheppard/Carnegie Institution for Science Astronomers have increased the size of the observable solar system after spotting a 450-km wide object orbiting the sun. The lump of ice and rock circles the sun at a greater distance than any known object, and never gets closer than 12bn kilometres – 80 times the distance from Earth to the sun. If its size is confirmed it could qualify as a dwarf planet in the same category as Pluto. Researchers said the discovery proves the existence of the inner Oort cloud, a region of icy bodies that lies far beyond the orbit of Neptune – which at 4.5bn kilometres from the sun is the most remote planet in the solar system.
The Essay on The Soho Project Solar Sun Spacecraft
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory or SOHO for short is a cooperative joint effort by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the U. S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The main mission of this project is to study the internal structure of the Sun, its extensive upper atmosphere, as well as to determine the origin and characteristics of the solar wind. The SOHO spacecraft was ...
Until a proper name is decided upon, the body is known only as 2012 VP113. According to the science journal Nature, the team that discovered it call it VP for short, or “Biden”, after US vice president Joe Biden. Its pink tinge comes from radiation damage that alters the make-up of frozen water, methane and carbon dioxide on the surface. Though exciting in its own right, the discovery raises a more tantalising prospect for many astronomers: that a “Super Earth” up to 10 times the mass of our planet orbits the sun at such a great distance that it has never been seen.
