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    Trans-neptunian objects tagged posts

    Mysterious object found dancing with Neptune

    July 23, 2025, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    A team of astronomers led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian has discovered a rare object far beyond Neptune, from a class known as trans-Neptunian objects, that is moving in rhythm with the giant planet. This image shows the orbits of all of the objects discovered in the Outer Solar System Origins Survey. The orbit of 2020 VN40 is the thickest one, tilted up and to the left from the orbits of most of the objects.  The orbits of the giant planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are the white circles. 
    Credit: Rosemary Pike, CfA

    This object, called 2020 VN40, is the first confirmed body that orbits the sun once for every ten orbits Neptune completes.

    Astronomers have discovered a bizarre object in the outer solar system, 2020 VN40, that dances to Neptune’s g...

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    Haumea, the most peculiar of Pluto companions, has a ring around it

    October 12, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Artist concept of Haumea, with the correct proportions of the main body and the ring. The ring is at a distance of 2287 kilometers from the center of the main body and is darker than the surface of the dwarf planet itself. Credit: IAA-CSIC/UHU

    Artist concept of Haumea, with the correct proportions of the main body and the ring. The ring is at a distance of 2287 kilometers from the center of the main body and is darker than the surface of the dwarf planet itself. Credit: IAA-CSIC/UHU

    At the ends of the Solar System, beyond the orbit of Neptune, there is a belt of objects composed of ice and rocks, among which four dwarf planets stand out: Pluto, Eris, Makemake and Haumea. The latter is the least well known of the four and was recently the object of an international observation campaign which was able to establish its main physical characteristics. The study, led by astronomers from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia and published in Nature, reveals the presence of a ring around the planet.

    Trans-neptunian objects are diff...

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