http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/xena/ Eris News. Eris, formerly known as Xena, is the largest dwarf planet in our solar system. Eris has a moon known as Dysnomia. en-us Tue, 13 May 2008 01:05:01 EDT Tue, 13 May 2008 01:05:01 EDT 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/xena/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070617130655.htm Aptly named after the Greek goddess of conflict, the icy dwarf planet, Eris, has rattled the general model of our solar system. The object was discovered by astronomer Mike Brown of Caltech in the outer reaches of the Kuiper belt in 2005. Adding insult to injury for the former ninth planet, Brown has now determined that Eris is also more massive than Pluto. Mon, 18 Jun 2007 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070617130655.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070511081331.htm Science fiction may soon become science fact. Astronomers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have recently concluded that the upcoming planet-finding mission, SIM PlanetQuest, would be able to detect an Earth-like planet around the star 40 Eridani, a planet familiar to "Star Trek" fans as "Vulcan." Fri, 11 May 2007 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070511081331.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060914155305.htm The International Astronomical Union has announced that the dwarf planet known as Xena since its 2005 discovery has been named Eris, after the Greek goddess of discord. Eris's moon will be known as Dysnomia, the demon goddess of lawlessness and the daughter of Eris. Fri, 15 Sep 2006 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060914155305.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060825003742.htm The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has downgraded the status of Pluto to that of a "dwarf planet," a designation that will also be applied to the spherical body discovered last year by California Institute of Technology planetary scientist Mike Brown and his colleagues. The decision means that only the rocky worlds of the inner solar system and the gas giants of the outer system will hereafter be designated as planets. Thu, 24 Aug 2006 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060825003742.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060816082231.htm The world's astronomers, under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), have concluded two years of work defining the difference between "planets" and the smaller "solar system bodies" such as comets and asteroids. If the definition is approved by the astronomers gathered 14-25 August 2006 at the IAU General Assembly in Prague, our Solar System will include 12 planets, with more to come. Wed, 16 Aug 2006 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060816082231.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060417131556.htm NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has resolved the "tenth planet," nicknamed "Xena," for the first time and has found that it is only just a little larger than Pluto. Though previous ground-based observations suggested that Xena was about 30 percent greater in diameter than Pluto, Hubble observations taken on Dec. 9 and 10, 2005, yield a diameter of 1,490 miles (with an uncertainty of 60 miles) for Xena. Pluto's diameter, as measured by Hubble, is 1,422 miles. Mon, 17 Apr 2006 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060417131556.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060119230354.htm In the search for planetary systems like our own, scientists are peering at nearby stars in search of dusty debris disks that presumably accompany planets. UC Berkeley astronomer Paul Kalas has just discovered two new stars -- the eighth and ninth to date -- that have rings of dust seemingly identical to the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune's orbit in our solar system. Hubble images show one has a narrow belt, the other a wide belt. Fri, 20 Jan 2006 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060119230354.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060111082456.htm In the not-too-distant past, the planet Pluto was thought to be an odd bird in the outer reaches of the solar system because it has a moon, Charon, that was formed much like Earth's own moon was formed. But Pluto is getting a lot of company these days. Of the four largest objects in the Kuiper belt, three have one or more moons. Tue, 17 Jan 2006 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060111082456.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051031193030.htm Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to view the ninth planet in our solar system, astronomers discovered Pluto may have not one, but three moons. If confirmed, the discovery of the two new moons could offer insights into the nature and evolution of the Pluto system; Kuiper Belt Objects with satellite systems; and the early Kuiper Belt. The Kuiper Belt is a vast region of icy, rocky bodies beyond Neptune's orbit. Tue, 01 Nov 2005 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051031193030.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051003075911.htm The newly discovered 10th planet, 2003 UB313, is looking more and more like one of the solar system's major players. It has the heft of a real planet (latest estimates put it at about 20 percent larger than Pluto), a catchy code name (Xena, after the TV warrior princess), and a Guinness Book-ish record of its own (at about 97 astronomical units-or 9 billion miles from the sun-it is the solar system's farthest detected object). And, astronomers from the California Institute of Technology and their colleagues have now discovered, it has a moon. Mon, 03 Oct 2005 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051003075911.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050729224136.htm A planet larger than Pluto has been discovered in the outlying regions of the solar system. The planet was discovered using the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory near San Diego, Calif. The planet is a typical member of the Kuiper belt, but its sheer size in relation to the nine known planets means that it can only be classified as a planet. Sat, 30 Jul 2005 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050729224136.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/06/050622135546.htm A detailed image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope offers the strongest evidence yet that an unruly and unseen planet may be gravitationally tugging on a dusty ring around the nearby star Fomalhaut (HD 216956). Thu, 23 Jun 2005 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/06/050622135546.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/02/050208231840.htm Moons circle planets, and planets circle stars. Now, astronomers have learned that planets may also circle celestial bodies almost as small as planets. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has spotted a dusty disk of planet-building material around an extraordinarily low-mass brown dwarf, or "failed star." Wed, 09 Feb 2005 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/02/050208231840.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050111091215.htm Unique follow up observations carried out with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope are providing important supporting evidence for the existence of a candidate planetary companion to a relatively bright young brown dwarf star located 225 light-years away in the southern constellation Hydra. Tue, 11 Jan 2005 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050111091215.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/12/041208235835.htm Computer simulations show a close encounter with a passing star about 4 billion years ago may have given our solar system its abrupt edge and put small, alien worlds into distant orbits around our sun. Thu, 09 Dec 2004 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/12/041208235835.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041116234001.htm Pluto's status as our solar system's ninth planet may be safe if a recently discovered Kuiper Belt Object is a typical "KBO" and not just an oddball. Astronomers have new evidence that KBOs (Kuiper Belt Objects) are smaller than previously thought. Mon, 22 Nov 2004 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041116234001.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/09/030908071505.htm Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have discovered three of the faintest and smallest objects ever detected beyond Neptune. Each lump of ice and rock is roughly the size of Philadelphia and orbits just beyond Neptune and Pluto, where they may have rested since the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago. Mon, 08 Sep 2003 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/09/030908071505.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/10/021008063710.htm NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has measured the largest object in the solar system ever seen since the discovery of Pluto 72 years ago. Approximately half the size of Pluto, the icy world 2002 LM60, dubbed "Quaoar" (pronounced kwa-whar) by its discoverers, is the farthest object in the solar system ever to be resolved by a telescope. Tue, 08 Oct 2002 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/10/021008063710.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/10/001030082725.htm Our solar system may have an outer "edge" just outside the orbit of Pluto, astronomers announced recently. Their results suggest that early in the history of the solar system, some event stripped away most of the planet-building material beyond 50 times Earth's distrance from the sun. Mon, 30 Oct 2000 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/10/001030082725.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/10/981023073211.htm Planetary scientists have discovered the first circumstellar disk ever seen around a star like our sun, a star known to be orbited by a planet. The system is more like our solar system than any yet found. Fri, 23 Oct 1998 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/10/981023073211.htm