In our solar system, a newfound dwarf planet is there, and it has some impressive stats!Eris was discovered in 2005 and is now known to be the largest dwarf planet in our solar system. It’s about 27% larger than Pluto, which used to be considered the largest dwarf planet.Eris was also the first object to be found in orbit around the sun that was more massive than Pluto (Pluto is larger than Earth’s moon). Since its discovery in 2005, Eris has been a source of fascination for many astronomers and Solar System enthusiasts. With an estimated diameter of 1445 mi (2,325 km), this dwarf planet is only slightly smaller than Pluto, making it the largest known object in the Solar System beyond the orbit of Neptune. Eris was previously referred to as the 10th planet of the Solar System because it seemed to be bigger than Pluto. This, together with the possibility of future discoveries of similar size objects, prompted the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to use the word planet for the first time. According to the International Astronomical Union definition accepted on August 24, 2006, Eris, along with Pluto, Ceres, Haumea, and Makemake is a ‘dwarf planet,’ taking the total number of known planets in the Solar System to eight, which is exactly the same as before Pluto’s identification in the ’30s. Eris was just very significantly shorter than Pluto, according to observations of a star occultation by it in 2010.Eris is primarily made of ice, which means it’s very reflective and bright. It’s also quite large for a dwarf planet, measuring about two-thirds the size of Pluto. Unlike Pluto and Triton, which are both reddish, Eris appears practically white. Eris and Pluto are both categorized as dwarf planets even by International Astronomical Union, which defined classifications for entities circling the Sun in August 2006. Both entities are also categorized as plutoids, a subtype of dwarf planets so far from the Sun compared to Neptune defined by the International Astronomical Union in June 2008. Eris travels through just a few conventional Zodiac constellations due to its high inclination; it is currently in the constellation Cetus. From 1876 to 1929, it was in Sculptor, and from around 1840 to 1875, it was in Phoenix. It will join the Pisces constellation in 2036 and remain there till 2065, when it will move into Aries. It will next proceed northward, passing through Perseus in 2128 as well as Camelopardalis in 2173 (when it will attain its northernmost declination).Pluto (though some still see it as the ninth planet), Ceres mostly in the asteroid belt, Makemake, Haumea, and Eris are the five dwarf planets. Pluto, together with Eris and the asteroid Ceres, the most prominent member of the asteroid belt, was redefined as a dwarf planet. Every 558 years, Eris circles the Sun. Eris’s orbit, like that of other dwarf planets, is exceedingly eccentric and inclined in comparison to the other eight planets. Eris spins on its axis as it circles the Sun. Similar to Earth, it needs 25.9 hours to revolve once!Eris’s Location In The UniverseEris is located in the Kuiper belt, a vast area of space that extends beyond the orbit of Pluto. This region is home to thousands of icy objects, including dwarf planets like Eris. The Kuiper belt is believed to be the leftover debris from the formation of our solar system billions of years ago.Eris is indeed a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt (a disc-like region beyond Neptune’s orbit) that circles beyond Neptune’s orbit. Thousands of little frozen worlds have developed back to the origins of our solar system, some 4.5 billion years ago, in this faraway region.Eris is also unique in terms of its location. However, unlike the majority of the planets in the solar system, Eris is located in the outermost part of the Kuiper Belt. In this area, a number of strange and fascinating objects, including comets, asteroids, and dwarf planets, can be found.Eris seems to be the furthest dwarf planet from the Sun, as well as the most massive dwarf planet currently known. In a region identified as the ‘scattered disc,’ Eris is positioned beyond the orbit of Neptune and beyond the Kuiper belt.Discovery Of The Dwarf Planet ErisOn January 25, 2005, the discovery team followed up on their first discovery of Eris with spectroscopic observations made at Hawaii’s 8 m Gemini North Telescope.The existence of methane ice on the surface of the object was revealed by infrared light, indicating that the surface may be comparable to that of Pluto, which was the only TNO known to contain surface methane at the time, and Neptune’s moon Triton, which has methane on its surface.Chad Trujillo of Gemini observatory, Mike Brown, and David Rabinowitz found Eris on January 5, 2005, using pictures collected on October 21, 2003. Due to developments that would subsequently lead to controversy regarding Haumea, the finding was publicized on July 29, 2005, the exact day as Makemake as well as two days after Haumea.For several years, the search team had been actively scanning for huge outer Solar System’s planets and had been involved in the finding of a number of other massive TNOs, notably 90482 Orcus, 50000 Quaoar, and 90377 Sedna.The crew made routine observations with the 1.2 m Samuel Oschin Schmidt telescope near Palomar Observatory in California on October 21, 2003, however, Eris’ image was not spotted at that time owing to its sluggish speed across the sky. To decrease the number of false positives, the team’s automated image-searching program removed any objects operating at much less than 1.5 arcseconds per hour.Sedna was traveling at 1.75 arcsec/h when it was identified in 2003 therefore, the scientists evaluated their past files with a lower restriction on the angular motion, picking through the previously rejected photos by eye. The re-analysis in January 2005 revealed Eris’ sluggish movement against the distant stars.Following that, further observations were made to produce a tentative assessment of Eris’ orbit, allowing the object’s proximity to be calculated.The team had planned to keep their inventions of the bright objects Eris and Makemake under wraps until more observations and calculations were completed, but they announced them both on July 29 after a different team in Spain controversially announced the discovery of some other large TNO people had been tracking, Haumea, on July 27.Eris has been detected in pre-recovery pictures dating to September 3, 1954.In October 2005, further studies indicated Eris possesses a moon, which was eventually called Dysnomia.Studies of Dysnomia’s orbit allowed scientists to compute Eris’ mass, which they determined in June 2007 to be 3.6 × 10^22 lb (1.672 × 10^22 kg), 27% more than Pluto’s. Eris moon Dysnomia is indeed a demon goddess of disobedience.Characteristics Of The Dwarf Planet ErisEris has an elliptical orbit around our sun and passes through all four of the gas giants-Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.It’s believed that Eris is made of rock and ice, with the Eris surface temperature of around -400 F (-240 C).Eris has an estimated diameter of 1434 mi (2308 km), making it larger than Pluto.Eris is the most distant dwarf planet in our solar system, with an average distance away from the Sun of about 96.37 AU (astronomical units).The dwarf planet has a very slow rotation period, taking around 580 Earth days to complete a full rotation.The dwarf planet Eris isn’t always the farthest away. Eris is orbiting the Sun at such a great distance at its farthest point (Aphelion) that it is beyond the Kuiper Belt, yet it is closer to the Sun at its closest point (Perihelion) than Pluto is at its furthest point.Eris has only one celestial body (moon) named moon Dysnomia by the international astronomical union. It requires 16 Earth days for this moon to make a full orbit. In Greek mythology, moon Dysnomia is the offspring of the goddess Eris.Greek goddess Eris is the goddess of lawlessness in Greek mythology. Dysnomia, the demon goddess of disobedience and Eris’s daughter, will be Eris’s moon.The Trojan War lasted 10 years and was fought between the ancient Greeks and the city of Troy.Eris was given the name Eris for the minor planet, the ancient Greek goddess of conflict and disagreement. Since its categorization was challenged upon finding, this is among the aptest Eris facts. Lila, Xena, and Persephone were all rejected as names for the planet.Saturn, Eris’ (blue) orbit relative to Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto’s (white/gray). The Sun is represented by a red dot, whereas the arcs underneath the ecliptic are shown in deeper hues.Eris is among the largest known objects. It makes up 27% of the Earth’s mass. It is roughly 28% more massive than Pluto, which is somewhat bigger. Altogether, this dwarf planet is indeed the solar system’s 16th most massive object.Eris orbits the Sun at an extremely eccentric orbit of around 44 degrees to the surface of the Solar System. This object takes 557 Earth years to circle the Sun, which is a very long time. That’s a long period in comparison to a human lifetime!Distance Of Eris From EarthAs mentioned previously, the dwarf planet is one of the most distant natural objects in our solar system-in fact, it takes nearly 1000 days for light from Eris to reach us!When Eris crossed before a dim star in 2010 in an occurrence known as an occultation, astronomers were able to make exact measurements due to its distance.The closest approach of Eris to Earth is around 37.93 AU (astronomical units), and the farthest away is 98.16 AU, as measured between January 2008 through April 2023.The distance between Earth and Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris is now 8938321427 mi (14,384,833,958 km), or 96.156676 astronomical units.Eris is roughly 68 AU away from the sun and 95.1 AU from the Earth at the moment. From Eris to us, light takes around 13 hours to travel. These figures vary often, but because Eris is continually recorded, they can be validated online. Eris seems to have a radius of around 722 mi (1,162 km), making it roughly one-fifth the size of Earth.It’s a little smaller than Earth’s moon, just like Pluto. Eris would have been the diameter of a popcorn kernel if Earth were just a nickel. It measures 1,445 mi (2,325 km) in diameter.Although Eris is somewhat smaller than Pluto, it is 27% heavier and denser. New findings again from New Horizons spacecraft, on the other hand, indicated that Pluto’s volume was not somewhat smaller but slightly greater than Eris. Eris is now the 10th largest item known to circle the sun by volume, although it stays the ninth-largest by mass, thanks to this new knowledge.
In our solar system, a newfound dwarf planet is there, and it has some impressive stats!
