Topic: New "Minor Planet" Found in Solar System

[sam]

Brian Handwerk
for National Geographic News
August 19, 2008
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/08/080819-new-planet.html

The solar system as we know it is a bit more crowded due to the recent discovery of an intriguing new "minor planet."

The object, dubbed 2006 SQ372, is a kind of tailless comet that's currently some two billion miles (three billion kilometers) from Earth, a bit closer to the sun than Neptune.

But the lump of ice and rock is moving on a long, elliptical orbit that will take it on a round-trip journey lasting about 22,500 years.

At its peak distance, the body will be about 150 billion miles (241 billion kilometers) from Earth—1,600 times farther than the distance between Earth and the sun.

Visitor From the Oort Cloud?

Scientists first sighted the unusual object in 2006 while scanning the skies for distant supernovae that help measure the ongoing expansion of the universe.

Based on data collected between 2005 and 2007, Andrew Becker of the University of Washington and colleagues charted the object's unusual orbit—an ellipse four times as long as it is wide.

The object appears to be a comet that does not get close enough to the sun for its ice to evaporate and form a tail.

"Currently it's in a transient orbit right now, an unstable orbit," Becker said.

"It's close to the orbits of Uranus and Neptune, and we think that in a couple of hundred million years, one of those planets will scatter it."

Becker's team believes 2006 SQ372 probably came from the inner edges of the Oort cloud, a theoretical region of asteroid-like bodies several trillion miles away that is believed to be the source of many known comets.

The scientists think the body was bounced into the Oort cloud from the inner solar system during planet formation some 4.5 billion years ago.

[Clive]

There are lots of interesting objects in the outer solar system and I'm sure lots more are waiting to be discovered.  Must be your turn before too long Sam!   

[sam]

oh, I go for things a bit further away... such as high redshift radio galaxies... 

[David]

I lose interest in anything further away from Watford 

[GillE]

How come men can find these distant objects but they can never find their credit cards when they go out shopping?

[David]

Distant planets wont show up on the monthly statement............whereas shoes,thats another matter

[sam]

How come men can find these distant objects but they can never find their credit cards when they go out shopping?

I can. I think I should refer you to another topic where Clive states that my girlfriend is always smiling. 

[Clive]

You have a dream girlfriend Sam.  It was impossible to get her to spend your money last time you were here in Bridgend.     Girls like that are as rare as hens teeth! 

[David]

But is Sam allowed to spend his money ?

[Simon]

You have a dream girlfriend Sam. 

She's certainly in your dreams, by the sound of it!  You talk about her more than he does!   

[Clive]

Envy Simon.   

[David]

I beat all of you........................I have the teddy 

[sam]

You have a dream girlfriend Sam.  It was impossible to get her to spend your money last time you were here in Bridgend.     Girls like that are as rare as hens teeth! 

oh she's not always like that... but then again she's quite good about things... though when it comes to going out for food etc that's a different story.

[sam]

I beat all of you........................I have the teddy