Thursday 12 October 2017

Rocky ring spotted around a dwarf planet in our Solar System

An artist's impression of the trans-Neptunian dwarf planet Haumea, with the ring that was just discovered ...

The most effective way of discovering planets beyond our Solar System has been through observing occultations when a body passes in front of its host star. Astronomers have now used that method to get a better look at a little-known dwarf planet much closer to home: Haumea, which orbits the Sun beyond Neptune. The observations not only gave scientists a better understanding of the planet's size, shape and density, but it allowed them to make a surprising new discovery: Haumea has a rocky ring around it.

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Category: Space

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from New Atlas http://ift.tt/2zjJ1PW

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