|
|
Article: A new giant in the Kuiper belt.(cluster of comets)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- July 21, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
When it comes to the biggest bodies in the solar system beyond Neptune, Pluto tops the list. Charon, Pluto's moon, has always been designated the runner-up.
Astronomers now have for the first time found an object that's slightly bigger than Charon. It's an icy body in the Kuiper belt, a reservoir of comets in the outer solar system.
Dubbed 2001 KX76, this object has an estimated diameter of 1,270 kilometers, making it the largest known member of the belt. Charon, in comparison, has a diameter of about 1,200 km, and Pluto is 3,300 km across.
The newly discovered object lies an estimated 43 astronomical units from the sun--43 times the Earth-sun ...