Eris
is one of the largest known dwarf planets in
our solar system. It's about the same size as
Pluto, but is three times farther from the Sun.
Eris
first appeared to be larger than Pluto. This
triggered a debate in the scientific community
that led to the International Astronomical Union's
decision in 2006 to clarify the definition of
a planet. Pluto, Eris and other similar objects
are now classified as dwarf planets.
Originally
designated 2003 UB313 (and nicknamed for the
television warrior Xena by its discovery team),
Eris is named for the ancient Greek goddess
of discord and strife. The name fits since Eris
remains at the center of a scientific debate
about the definition of a planet.
Discovery
Eris was discovered on Oct. 21, 2003 by M.E.
Brown, C.A. Trujillo, and D. Rabinowitz at the
Palomar Observatory.
Size
and Distance
With a radius of about 722 miles (1,163 kilometers),
Eris is about 1/5 the radius of Earth. Eris,
like Pluto, is a little smaller than Earth's
Moon. If the Earth were the size of a nickel,
Eris would be about as big as a popcorn kernel.
From
an average distance of 6,289,000,000 miles (10,125,000,000
kilometers), Eris is about 68 astronomical units
away from the Sun. One astronomical unit (abbreviated
as AU), is the distance from the Sun to Earth.
From this distance, it takes sunlight more than
nine hours to travel from the Sun to the surface
of Eris.
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