Largest Unnamed Object in the Solar System Needs You ... To Choose Its Moniker
Source: Live Science
Largest Unnamed Object in the Solar System Needs You … To Choose Its Moniker
By Yasemin Saplakoglu, Staff Writer | April 10, 2019 09:02am ET
Beyond Neptune, there's a minor red planet that rotates around the sun — and it is in need of a name.
Since its discovery in 2007, scientists have called this small planet "2007 OR10," but they are now reaching out to the public to vote on a new name to submit to the International Astronomical Union for its consideration.
You can vote on one of three names listed on the scientists' website: Gonggong, Holle and Vili.
2007 OR10 sits in the Kuiper Belt of the solar system — an area beyond Neptune made up of small icy objects — which is also home to Pluto. Though scientists don't know the exact size of this minor planet, they think it's about 777 miles (1,250 kilometers) in diameter, making it smaller than the dwarf planets Pluto and Eris, but still one of the top 10 largest Kuiper Belt objects.
This object — potentially large enough to be considered a dwarf planet (a step up from "minor planet" ) — is likely a mixture of ice and rock, and has one of the reddest surfaces ever discovered in the Kuiper Belt. The researchers think the red color might be the result of sunlight hitting trace amounts of methane ice on the surface.
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Read more: https://www.livescience.com/65197-minor-planet-needs-a-name.html
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