New dwarf planet discovered hanging out in the far reaches of our solar system
A dwarf new planet was discover in our solar system.
The planet called, 2014 UZ224, is a celestial orb that measures only 330 miles across. According to Scientific American, it's size makes it less than half the size of Pluto's moon Charon.
The celestial orb orbits the sun at a distance of roughly 8.5 billion miles. It is so far away that it makes a full circle every 1,100 years or so.
The locating of the dwarf planet was in a rather non-traditional way. It involved a device called a Dark Energy Camera. According to NPR, this is typically used for tracking stellar explosions and mapping other galaxies.
The discovery was also aided by a group of University of Michigan undergraduates. The students were participating in a summer project led by Professor David Gerdes.
Gerdes is now using the type of information learn in this locating to find the hypothesized Planet Nine.
What it's been like to work atNASA over the years:
