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Dwarf planet discovered at solar system’s edge June 27, 2014

Posted by Al Philipson in Science and Science Fiction news.
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In this combined image, the colored dots show the movement of 2012 VP113. Each image was taken two hours apart.

In this combined image, the colored dots show the movement of 2012 VP113. Each image was taken two hours apart.

It is named 2012 VP113 and is at 83 AU.

But even farther out is another dwarf planet Eris. “Eris is bigger than Pluto, and has a satellite called Dysnomia.

A new exciting find from the far reaches of our solar system: Astronomers have discovered a dwarf planet that’s even farther away than Pluto — so far, in fact, that its orbit reaches into a new edge of the solar system.

The dwarf planet’s current name is 2012 VP113, and it is located in a “wasteland or badland of the solar system,” said astronomer Chad Trujillo, head of adaptive optics at Gemini Observatory in Hawaii and co-discoverer of this object. His study was published Wednesday in the journal Nature. (more…)