WASHINGTON — The small distant world called Quaoar, named after a god of creation in Native American mythology, is producing some surprises for astronomers as it orbits beyond Pluto in the frigid outer reaches of our solar system. Researchers said on Wednesday (Feb 8) they have detected a ring encircling Quaoar akin to the one around the planet Saturn. But...
An illustration showing the frigid distant world Quaoar, orbiting in our solar system beyond Pluto, surrounded by its newly discovered ring, along with its moon Weywot.WASHINGTON — The small distant world called Quaoar, named after a god of creation in Native American mythology, is producing some surprises for astronomers as it orbits beyond Pluto in the frigid outer reaches of our solar system.
The distance of the ring from Quaoar places it in a location where scientists believe particles should readily come together around a celestial body to form a moon rather than remain as separate components in a disk of ring material. Its diameter of about 700 miles is about a third that of Earth's moon and half that of the dwarf planet Pluto. It has a small moon called Weywot, Quaoar's son in mythology, with a diameter of 105 miles orbiting beyond the ring.
Quaoar's ring was spotted using the European Space Agency's orbiting Cheops telescope, whose primary purpose is to study planets beyond our solar system, as well as ground-based telescopes.
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