THE LARGEST UNNAMED OBJECT IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM!

Artist’s rendition of the dwarf planet. Credit: NASA

IT'S ALL ABOUT SIZE

            2007 OR10, which was discovered  in 2007 by a team scouring the outer Solar System for new members, has quite an erratic orbit, almost coming to Neptune but swinging as far away as its current orbit, which is twice the distance to Pluto.

          Original estimates suggested the object had a diameter of 1,280 km (795 mi); but by combining data from the ESA/NASA infrared Herschel Space Observatory and the current K2 phase of the planet-hunting Kepler Space Telescope, the team was able to revise that number. They now peg the diameter to 1,535 km (955 mi), which makes 2007 OR10 the third-largest dwarf planet in the outer Solar System, lol yep that is the power of science right there.

         It’s about a two-thirds the size of Pluto, which has a diameter of 2,374 km (1,475 mi). The second-largest object, Eris is only slightly smaller than Pluto, coming in at 2,326 km (1,445 mi).

It's a Strange World

The new study,published in The Astronomical Journal, also gives us a glimpse of some of the unusual properties of the newly promoted world.

      

        It has a very dark, very ruddy surface. It’s much darker than expected, in fact, because it’s still reflecting the same low levels of light from what’s been found to be a much larger surface area. This distinguishes 2007 OR10 from most other objects of its particular species, as they’re usually brighter. Its red color, which some think might be caused by methane ices on the surface, puts it firmly in the august company of its bigger brothers, Eris and Pluto, which display a similar hue. This suggests its gravity is strong enough to retain volatile methane, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen ices.

It also has a very slow “day,” taking about 45 hours to complete one rotation.

     

By using the Kepler telescope to research the planetoid’s properties, the team has shown that the K2 mission can do some very important work outside of its primary mission of extrasolar planet hunting—it can tell us a little about what’s going on right here in our own neighborhood.