Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Distant Object 'DeeDee' Makes the Dwarf Planet Grade
By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | April 12, 2017 02:20pm ET
The solar system's dwarf-planet population is about to increase by one.
The far-flung object 2014 UZ224 — informally known as DeeDee, for "Distant Dwarf" — is about 395 miles wide (635 kilometers), new observations reveal. That means the frigid object probably harbors enough mass to be shaped into a sphere by its own gravity, entitling it to "dwarf planet" status, researchers said.
Astronomers first spotted DeeDee in 2014 using the optical Blanco telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile (though they didn't announce the discovery until 2016). [Meet the Solar System's Dwarf Planets]
More:
http://www.space.com/36445-deedee-distant-dwarf-planet-alma-telescope.html?utm_source=notification
Science:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/122851454
[center]
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Atacama Desert, Chile