Why in the News?

Recently, scientists have discovered the inside structure of the enigmatic dwarf planet Eris.

About Dwarf Planet Eris:

• This new dwarf planet is the largest object found in orbit around the sun since the discovery of Neptune and its moon Triton in 1846.
• It was discovered on Jan. 5, 2005, and It is larger than Pluto, discovered in 1930.
• Like Pluto, the new dwarf planet is a member of the Kuiper belt, a swarm of icy bodies beyond Neptune in orbit around the sun.
• Eris is named for the ancient Greek goddess of discord and strife.
• The surface of Eris is extremely cold, so it seems unlikely that life could exist there.
• With a radius of about 1,163 kilometers, Eris is about 1/5 the radius of Earth.
• Eris, like Pluto, is a little smaller than Earth's Moon.
• Eris takes 557 Earth years to make one trip around the Sun.
• As Eris orbits the Sun, it completes one rotation every 25.9 hours, making its day length similar to ours.
• Moons: Eris has a very small moon called Dysnomia.
• Dysnomia has a nearly circular orbit lasting about 16 days.
• Eris most likely has a rocky surface similar to Pluto.
• Atmosphere: The dwarf planet is often so far from the Sun that its atmosphere collapses and freezes, falling to the surface as snow.
• As it gets closest to the Sun in its faraway orbit, the atmosphere thaws.