Dwarf Planet
A new, small object, detected orbiting outside the Kuiper belt, suggests there may be much more in this unexplored space.
Dr. Scott Sheppard, an astronomer from the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, DC, was part of a team that has discovered a new dwarf planet beyond the Kuiper belt. This is the second such object that's been found, but the search is young, and Dr. Sheppard thinks that it indicates that there may be thousands of similar or larger objects in this region that was thought to be empty. The new dwarf has an extremely eccentric orbit, suggesting that it didn't form where it now orbits. It may have formed in the inner solar system and been pulled outwards by gravitational perturbations, or may even have come from deeps space, and was captured by our solar system's gravity.
Related Links