Feb 1 2006
From The Space Library
An international team of astronomers, led by Frank Bertoldi of the University of Bonn and the Max-Planck-Institute for Radioastronomy, reported in the journal Nature that an object in the Kuiper Belt surrounding Pluto—2003 UB313—had a diameter greater than Pluto. Scientists had discovered 2003 UB313 in 2005 and had concluded from observations of its optical brightness that the object was larger than Pluto. Bertoldi’s team had measured the object’s heat radiation using the Spanish IRAM 30-meter (98.4-foot) telescope fitted with the Max-Planck Millimeter Bolometer detector. The team had observed the thermal emissions at a 1.2-millimeter (0.05-inch) wavelength, using the measurement to calculate 2003 UB313’s size and surface reflectivity. The resulting diameter measurement of 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) indicated that the object was 700 kilometers (435 miles) larger than Pluto. Moreover, 2003 UB313 was the largest object discovered in the solar system since the 1946 discovery of Neptune. The object’s size sparked a controversy among scientists, who were debating which criteria they should use to name objects as planets. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) would decide whether to name 2003 UB313 as the 10th planet or to demote Pluto from its planetary status.
Guy Gugliotta, “At the Edge of Solar System, a 10th Planet May Lurk,” Washington Post, 2 February 2006; Univeritätbonn and Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, “New ‘Planet’ Is Larger Than Pluto: Bonn Astronomers Measure Size of Recently Discovered Solar System Object,” joint press release, 1 February 2006, http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/~bertoldi/ub313/PR-UB313-E.doc (accessed 25 August 2010); see also Frank Bertoldi et al.,“The Trans-Neptunian Object UB313 is Larger Than Pluto,” Nature 439, no. 7076 (2 February 2006): 563-564.
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