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Astronomers at Cal Tech have spotted a new planet. The current designation is 2003 UB313.

The planet is in what is called the Kuiper Belt, which is just past the orbit of Neptune. It is located about 97 times as far from the sun as the Earth is, and twice the distance of Pluto from the sun. The object was first spotted in October of 2003, but didn't see it move until January. The planet is actually larger than Pluto, whose status as a planet has been contraversial as of late.

There is a hard and fast definition for the difference between a star and a planet (If it burns deuterium and is 13 times as big as Jupiter, it ain't a planet), but no one has established the boundries between planets, asteroids and minor planets. It seems that no one has a problem with calling this thing a planet, at least not yet.

The same day that this object was spotted, a second "large" object was spotted in the Kuiper Belt as well, 2003 EL61, by astronomers working in Spain. It doesn't seem like they are considering this ball of water ice a planet, although it seems to have a satelite.

UB313's orbit is highly inclined, 44° from the plane of the solar system (convieniently, this is Earth's orbit). It's orbit is oblong like Pluto's, and apparently occasionally travels inside of Pluto's orbit.

Interestingly, two of the astronomers that found UB313, Chad Trujillo and Mike Brown, were also the discoverers of Quaoar, another Kuiper Belt Object that was announced three years ago.

For those of you wondering how long before they give this planet a real name, it is up to a nomenclature committee of the International Astronomical Union. There are different nomenclature committees depending on if the object is say, a star, a comet or an asteroid. Objects such as planets and larger satelites tend to have a shorter process than distant stars or tiny asteroids. There is a tradition of naming the planets after Roman gods, so expect this to hold. The planet may be officially named in a couple of years.


Do zobaczenia. Hasta la Proxima.