New dwarf planet spotted at the edge of the solar system (www.newscientist.com)
from neme@lemm.ee to astronomy@mander.xyz on 23 May 18:55
https://lemm.ee/post/64779384

#astronomy

threaded - newest

wise_pancake@lemmy.ca on 23 May 19:13 next collapse

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 on 23 May 19:58 collapse

Dwarf or not, Pluto is STILL a planet.

FaceDeer@fedia.io on 23 May 21:14 next collapse

It's not, actually. "Planet" and "Dwarf planet" are disjoint sets, according to the IAU.

Is a sea lion still a lion? Same thing.

WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works on 24 May 02:54 next collapse

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

FaceDeer@fedia.io on 24 May 02:59 next collapse

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."

MadMadBunny@lemmy.ca on 24 May 03:02 next collapse

There are so many nasty potential jokes I decided not to get involved. Fuck it I ain’t touching that with a 30-foot pole.

Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de on 27 May 14:20 collapse

it means that either pluto isn’t a planet, or basically the entire fucking asteroid belt it’s part of is all planets

LanguageIsCool@lemmy.world on 24 May 20:11 collapse

It’s also not a sea

atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works on 24 May 00:01 next collapse
dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works on 24 May 00:50 collapse

Jerry?

bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de on 23 May 19:17 next collapse

Ugh, didn’t read the “dwarf” part and got my hopes up for planet 9. When they eventually do find it they have to name it something with P so that the old mnemonics still work.

Zachariah@lemmy.world on 23 May 19:39 next collapse

“Planet 9” starts with “P”

FaceDeer@fedia.io on 23 May 21:12 next collapse

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 on 24 May 15:27 collapse

“Plutwo”

Microw@lemm.ee on 27 May 19:56 collapse

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

bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de on 27 May 19:58 collapse

Ooh, nice!

tiny_hedgehog@lemm.ee on 23 May 21:32 next collapse

“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?

AlbinoPython@lemmy.world on 23 May 22:31 next collapse

I mean, they said “roughly”.

corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca on 23 May 22:56 collapse

Like, give or take one AU, throughout the year.

tiny_hedgehog@lemm.ee on 24 May 05:48 collapse

Fair, but annoying to the pendantic.

powerofm@lemmy.ca on 23 May 23:59 next collapse

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

ThermonuclearEgg@hexbear.net on 24 May 00:07 next collapse

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

phys.org/…/2025-05-extreme-cousin-pluto-dwarf-pla…

Etterra@discuss.online on 24 May 00:13 next collapse

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

Zos_Kia@lemmynsfw.com on 24 May 20:24 collapse

Talk about putting all our eggs in the same basket smh

Kichae@lemmy.ca on 24 May 00:29 next collapse

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 on 24 May 05:47 collapse

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 on 24 May 14:40 collapse

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.

tiny_hedgehog@lemm.ee on 24 May 15:05 collapse

You are right. I stand corrected.

remotelove@lemmy.ca on 24 May 05:44 collapse

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

MasterBlaster@lemmygrad.ml on 23 May 23:40 next collapse

dibs

NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone on 23 May 23:56 next collapse

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

Assian_Candor@hexbear.net on 24 May 00:25 next collapse

Pluto defenders in shambles

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

TankieTanuki@hexbear.net on 24 May 00:42 collapse

planet X

<img alt="my-hero" src="https://hexbear.net/api/v3/image_proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchapo.chat%2Fpictrs%2Fimage%2F3ec1ede7-2359-42c4-b581-6d8131cc49d1.png"> 🪐

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

JadenSmith@sh.itjust.works on 24 May 01:58 next collapse

They prefer to be called little planets, tyvm.

MadMadBunny@lemmy.ca on 24 May 03:04 next collapse

So, draft planet 8.1 ? 8.3 because of Pluto and Charron?

collapse_already@lemmy.ml on 24 May 03:17 collapse

Don’t forget Eris. Weighs more than Pluto.

MadMadBunny@lemmy.ca on 24 May 03:20 collapse

Oh shit yeah… So, 8.4 then?

edgemaster72@lemmy.world on 24 May 03:58 next collapse

Obviously there’s a Planet X out there, where else would Chemical X come from

<img alt="" src="https://comicvine.gamespot.com/a/uploads/scale_medium/11/111746/3010576-4549542249-Chemic.jpeg">

MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml on 24 May 12:53 collapse

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