10th Planet - 2003 UB313

Astronomers discovered the 10th Planet of our Solar System. Neptune was discovered in 1846 and Pluto in 1930. Astronomers named this object as UB313 (granted automatically according to the IAU – International Astronomical Union’s naming protocols for minor planets), which is larger than Pluto and has a moon. UB313 takes close to 557 years to orbit the sun and it currently lies almost its maximum distance from the Sun (97 Astronomical Units). Astronomers calculated the diameter of UB313 around 1490 miles (2400 km - using images from the Hubble Space Telescope) and Pluto is around 1433 miles. Observations taken on September 10, 2005 revealed a moon in orbit around UB313. The moon was nicknamed Gabrielle by its discoverers. The unofficial name for UB313 is Xena (Xena – The warrior Princess).

Links

1. space.com - Objects bigger than Pluto Discovered
2. Wikipedia.org – UB313
3. bbc.co.uk – Astronomers detect 10th Planet
4. Caltech.edu – Discover of 2003 UB313
5. Astronomy.com – Move over, Pluto. There is even a larger ice world out there.
6. ub313.com – New Planet
7. nasa.gov – UB313
8. iau.org – International Astronomical Union
9. iau.org – Trans Neptune Object 2003 UB313

* Image Courtesey - Wikipedia.org