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Nemeski@lemm.ee to Astronomy@mander.xyz · 18 days ago

New dwarf planet spotted at the edge of the solar system

www.newscientist.com

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New dwarf planet spotted at the edge of the solar system

www.newscientist.com

Nemeski@lemm.ee to Astronomy@mander.xyz · 18 days ago
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The unusual orbit of a possible dwarf planet, known as 2017 OF201, makes it less likely that our solar system contains a hidden ninth “Planet X”
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  • certified sinonist@lemmygrad.ml
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    18 days ago

    dibs

  • wise_pancake@lemmy.ca
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    18 days ago

    This far-flung orbit may be the result of an encounter with a giant planet, which ejected the candidate dwarf planet out of the solar system, say the researchers.

    Poor guy. Hopefully he’s out there finding his own family.

    At least it doesn’t have to deal with the toxicity Pluto does, being in the family one day and then coldly rejected from the family from the planet club the next. And we wonder why it’s exterior is frozen…

    • Rhaedas@fedia.io
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      18 days ago

      Dwarf or not, Pluto is STILL a planet.

      • dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works
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        18 days ago

        Jerry?

      • FaceDeer@fedia.io
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        18 days ago

        It’s not, actually. “Planet” and “Dwarf planet” are disjoint sets, according to the IAU.

        Is a sea lion still a lion? Same thing.

        • LanguageIsCool@lemmy.world
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          17 days ago

          It’s also not a sea

        • WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works
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          18 days ago

          Well, screw the IAU. What the hell does “clearing your neighborhood” even mean?

          • MadMadBunny@lemmy.caBanned
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            16 days ago

            Removed by mod

          • FaceDeer@fedia.io
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            18 days ago

            This article goes into great detail about the various methods that one can use to measure or calculate the orbit-clearing capability of an orbiting body.

            It turns out that for all of these different methods, you will find an extremely clear bimodal distribution that groups the 8 planets together as being highly capable of clearing their orbits whereas everything else falls into a statistically distinct non-clearing group. This is because there’s sound dynamic reasons for why objects would fall into one group or the other with nothing lasting long in the “grey area” between them. Once an object becomes significantly better than its orbital neighbors at clearing the neighborhood it snowballs due to the feedback loop of scattering or absorbing its neighbors into itself.

            That makes this a good criterion for classification. As the old saying goes, “cleave nature at the joints.”

      • atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works
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        18 days ago

        Previous comment of mine seems relevant…

  • Björn Tantau@swg-empire.deBanned
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    8 days ago

    Removed by mod

    • Zachariah@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      “Planet 9” starts with “P”

    • Microw@lemm.ee
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      14 days ago

      This study authors btw say that their models for 2017 OF201’s orbit work best without the influence of a hypothetical planet 9

    • FaceDeer@fedia.io
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      18 days ago

      I’ve heard that the sign of a fair bargain is that everybody leaves unhappy. So how about we name it “Pluto?” That should annoy pretty much everyone.

      • SuperEars@lemmy.world
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        17 days ago

        “Plutwo”

  • MadMadBunny@lemmy.caBanned
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    16 days ago

    Removed by mod

    • collapse_already@lemmy.ml
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      18 days ago

      Don’t forget Eris. Weighs more than Pluto.

      • MadMadBunny@lemmy.caBanned
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        Removed by mod

  • MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml
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    18 days ago

    How do Sedna and that new one have a stable orbit? Are they that fast, to be able to compensate the movement of Pluto?

  • tiny_hedgehog@lemm.ee
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    18 days ago

    “The object is currently about 90.5 astronomical units (AU) away from us, or roughly 90 times as far from Earth as the sun is.”

    This sentence pissed me off so much and I stopped reading after it.

    It is 90.5 times as far from the Sun as the Earth is from the Sun. Why’d you have to go and change the frame of reference to Earth?

    • ThermonuclearEgg [she/her, they/them]@hexbear.net
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      18 days ago

      Here’s another article that doesn’t do this for anyone else that would prefer it:

      https://phys.org/news/2025-05-extreme-cousin-pluto-dwarf-planet.html

    • Kichae@lemmy.ca
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      18 days ago

      It didn’t. It’s 90.5 AU from us, and us is Earth. Or do you live on the Sun?

      • tiny_hedgehog@lemm.ee
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        18 days ago

        If we are 1AU from the sun, and this planet is 90AU from the sun, then it is between 89 and 91 AUs from earth depending on the progress of our orbits (assuming perfectly circular orbits). So they did change the frame of reference.

        • lud@lemm.ee
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          17 days ago

          This dwarf planet is 90 AU from US not from the sun. They just said that the dwarf planet is 90 AU away from us and that 1 AU is equal to the distance between the sun and the earth.

          But since the dwarf planets orbit is extremely eccentric that varies heavily.

    • Etterra@discuss.online
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      18 days ago

      Well it’s a good frame of reference because it’s where most of us keep all our stuff.

    • AlbinoPython@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      I mean, they said “roughly”.

    • remotelove@lemmy.ca
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      18 days ago

      They didn’t change the reference, they defined an AU.

    • powerofm@lemmy.ca
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      18 days ago

      “It’s 20.5°C outside or roughly 20 notches on your thermometer (except for americans)”

  • Assian_Candor [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    18 days ago

    Pluto defenders in shambles

    But I am not sure how to process this as a planet X fan

    • TankieTanuki [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      18 days ago

      planet X

      my-hero 🪐

      Edit: Also, Pluto would totally whoop Planet X’s ass one-to-one!

  • NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone
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    18 days ago

    When we hit the floor you just watch them move aside
    We will take them for a ride of rides
    They all love your miniature ways
    You know what they say about small boys

  • JadenSmith@sh.itjust.works
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    18 days ago

    They prefer to be called little planets, tyvm.

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