Noticia en:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4730061.stm
(pegada a continuación)
Astronomers in the United States have announced the discovery of the 10th planet to orbit
our Sun.
The largest object found in our Solar System since Neptune was discovered in 1846, it was
first seen in 2003 but has only now been confirmed as a planet.
Designated 2003 UB313, it is about 3,000km across, a world of rock and ice and somewhat
larger than Pluto.
Scientists say it is three times as far away as Pluto, in an orbit at an angle to the
orbits of the other planets.
Astronomers think that at some point in its history, Neptune likely flung it into its
highly-inclined 44-degree orbit.
Graphic of 2003 UB313 in relation to other planets and Sun
It is currently 97 Earth-Sun distances away - more than twice Pluto's average distance
from the Sun.
Bigger than Pluto
Its discoverers are Michael Brown of Caltech, Chad Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory in
Hawaii, and David Rabinowitz of Yale University.
David Rabinowitz told the BBC News website: "It has been a remarkable day and a remarkable
year. 2003 UB313 is probably larger than Pluto. It is fainter than Pluto, but three times
farther away.
"Brought to the same distance from the Sun as Pluto, it would be brighter. So today, the
world knows that Pluto is not unique. There are other Plutos, just farther out in the
Solar System where they are a little harder to find."
It was picked up using the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory and the 8m
Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea.
Slow mover
Chad Trujillo told the BBC News website: "I feel extremely lucky to be part of a discovery
as exciting as this. It's not every day that you find something Pluto-sized or larger!"
"The spectra that we took at the Gemini Observatory are particularly interesting because
it shows that the surface of 2003 UB313 is very similar to that of Pluto."
The object was first observed on 21 October 2003, but the team did not see it move in the
sky until looking at the same area 15 months later on 8 January 2005.
The researchers say they tried looking for it with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is
sensitive to heat radiation, but failed to detect it.
This gives them an upper limit of its size of 3,000 km, they say. The lower limit still
makes it larger than Pluto.
The discovery of 2003 UB313 comes just after the announcement of the finding of 2003 EL61,
which appears to be a little smaller than Pluto.
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Un saludo. Jose Brox
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