A tiny new dwarf planet has been discovered in the Kuiper Belt, a region of the solar system just beyond Neptune that contains hundreds of small, icy objects.
The planet, 2015 RR245, orbits the Sun once every 700 years and could give us an insight into how larger planets, such as Neptune, formed.
"The icy worlds beyond Neptune trace how the giant planets formed and then moved out from the Sun," said Michele Banister, who worked on the survey. "They let us piece together the history of our solar system. But almost all of these icy worlds are painfully small and faint: it's really exciting to find one that's large and bright enough that we can study it in detail."
Although 2015 RR245 has been sighted, its size is not yet known, though the team say it could be around 700 kilometres wide.
"It's either small and shiny, or large and dull." said Bannister.
The planet was found in February 2016 as part of an ongoing survey into the belt, OSSOS. The survey has already discovered more than 500 objects in the Kuiper Belt.
The team will now be doing further research into the planet's "highly elliptical orbit", with its approach to the Sun peaking in 2096. Once its orbit has been "refined", 2015 RR245 will be given a more official name.
"OSSOS was designed to map the orbital structure of the outer solar system to decipher its history." said Prof. Brett Gladman of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. "While not designed to efficiently detect dwarf planets, we're delighted to have found one on such an interesting orbit".
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
