Dwarf Planet Haumea Has a Ring

Universe Today ^ | 11 Oct , 2017 | Nancy Atkinson

[BenLurkin]

A unique opportunity to study the dwarf planet Haumea has led to an intriguing discovery: Haumea is surrounded by a ring.

Add this to the already long list of unique things about the weird-shaped world with a dizzying rotation and a controversial discovery.

On January 21, 2017 Haumea passed in front of a distant star, in an event known as an occultation. The background star can – pardon the pun – shine a light on the object passing in front, providing information about a distant object — such as size, shape, and density — that is otherwise difficult to obtain. Since an occultation with Haumea had never been observed before, scientists were first eager, and then surprised.

“One of the most interesting and unexpected findings was the discovery of a ring around Haumea,” said said Pablo Santos-Sanz, from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC) in a statement.

This is the first time a ring has been discovered around a trans-neptunian object, and the team said this discovery shows that the presence of rings could be much more common than was previously thought, in our Solar System as well as in other planetary systems.

[minnesota_bound]

Pluto is 1,473 miles.
Haumea is 1217.88 miles by 943.24 miles
It is not a beloved Disney character so it does not count.

[tumblindice]

I know you’ve deceived me, now here’s a surprise
I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles
Oh yeah

So was Goofy a dog? Or a guy? Canine or human?

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BenLurkin.

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