Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Huya was considered to be a possible dwarf planet due to its presumed high brightness, which corresponds to a large diameter. [ 47 ] [ 52 ] Astronomer Gonzalo Tancredi considered Huya as a possible dwarf planet with an estimated diameter larger than 450 km (280 mi), the suggested minimum size for icy objects to maintain a spheroidal shape.
The nearest such planet was then as close as 12 light-years away [7] [8] but (see below) is now estimated slightly above four light-years away. On August 24, 2016, astronomers announced the discovery of a rocky planet in the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri , the closest star to Earth (not counting the Sun).
The number of dwarf planets in the Solar System is unknown. Estimates have run as high as 200 in the Kuiper belt [1] and over 10,000 in the region beyond. [2] However, consideration of the surprisingly low densities of many large trans-Neptunian objects, as well as spectroscopic analysis of their surfaces, suggests that the number of dwarf planets may be much lower, perhaps only nine among ...
For the giant planets, the "radius" is defined as the distance from the center at which the atmosphere reaches 1 bar of atmospheric pressure. [ 11 ] Because Sedna and 2002 MS 4 have no known moons, directly determining their mass is impossible without sending a probe (estimated to be from 1.7x10 21 to 6.1×10 21 kg for Sedna [ 12 ] ).
The following is a list of numbered minor planets (essentially the same as asteroids) in ascending numerical order. Minor planets are defined as small bodies in the Solar System, including asteroids, distant objects, and dwarf planets, but not including comets. The catalog consists of hundreds of pages, each containing 1,000 minor planets.
A total of five planets are going retrograde between May and September: Mercury, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. "Retrograde" is a term used to describe when a planet's orbit appears to slow.
Planet c is possibly a potentially habitable Super-Earth but is probably too hot or massive. [55] [56] Mu Arae: Ara: 17 h 44 m 08.70 s: −51° 50′ 02.6″ 5.15: 51: G3IV-V: 1.077: 5704: 6.413: 4: Planet Quijote orbits in the circumstellar habitable zone. However, it is a gas giant, so it itself is uninhabitable although a large moon orbiting ...
The closest encounter to the Sun so far predicted is the low-mass orange dwarf star Gliese 710 / HIP 89825 with roughly 60% the mass of the Sun. [4] It is currently predicted to pass 0.1696 ± 0.0065 ly (10 635 ± 500 au) from the Sun in 1.290 ± 0.04 million years from the present, close enough to significantly disturb the Solar System's Oort ...