NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory Launches Orbitviewer App

New 3D, interactive visualization of planets and minor planets in our Solar System lets you explore Rubin discoveries in real time.

☑️ https://noirlab.edu/public/announcements/ann25014/
☑️ https://orbitviewer.app/

#Rubin #RubinObservatory #RubinFirstLook #visualization #planets #solarsystem #dwarfplanets #NearEarthObjects #NEO #NEOs #asteroids #MainBeltAsteroids #MainBelt #Centaurs #Trojans #TNOs #TransNeptunianObjects #Astronomy #Astrodon #science #news

Ice volcanoes on Ceres

#space #spaceexploration #Ceres #DwarfPlanets #volcano

A cousin for Pluto? New dwarf planet candidate found
Astrophysicists say they've identified an object beyond the orbit of Neptune that's likely to qualify as a dwarf planet, alongside other trans-Neptunian objects including Pluto, the erstwhile "ninth planet."

The discovery of 2017 OF201 touches upon another ninth-planet contr
https://cosmiclog.com/2025/05/22/a-cousin-for-pluto-new-dwarf-planet-candidate-found/
#CosmicSpace #Astronomy #DwarfPlanets #PlanetNine #PlanetX #planets #Space

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #423: Quaoar.
.
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#quaoar #dwarfplanets #astronomy #space #strangebuttrue #weirdplanets #planets #solarsystem #strangenewworlds #pluto #neptune #weywot #funfacts #facts #didyouknow #comics #webcomics #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

Nobody Expected JWST To Find Signs of Ongoing Eruptions on Makemake - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmzFvZ31ih4

#Astronomy #DwarfPlanets #JamesWebbTelescope

How did #Pluto get its heart? Scientists say it involved a cosmic "splat." (Yes, that's the scientific term.) The newly published study is a nice follow-up to my book about the little guy, "The Case for Pluto." https://cosmiclog.com/2024/04/15/how-did-pluto-get-its-heart-scientists-suggest-an-answer/ #Space #DwarfPlanets

How did Pluto get its heart? Scientists suggest an answer
The most recognizable feature on Pluto is its “heart,” a relatively bright valentine-shaped area known as Tombaugh Regio. How that heart got started is one of the dwarf planet’s deepest mysteries — but now researchers say they’ve come up with the most likely scena
https://cosmiclog.com/2024/04/15/how-did-pluto-get-its-heart-scientists-suggest-an-answer/
#UniverseToday #Astronomy #DwarfPlanets #KuiperBelt #NewHorizons #Pluto #Space

A pair of #DwarfPlanets lurking in the outer reaches of the #SolarSystem could still be #GeologicallyActive, increasing the chances that they could support #AlienLife, a new study suggests. The findings could also change what we know about dwarf planets in general. #Space

#JamesWebbTelescope spots potential conditions for life on 2 dwarf planets beyond #Neptune
https://www.livescience.com/space/planets/james-webb-telescope-spots-potential-conditions-for-life-on-2-dwarf-planets-beyond-neptune

@cathodion

So if it is a geothermal processess then it cant be drive by sun, it is just to way far out. So what is driving this? Is it radioactive decay? If so then of what?
OR
Is it due pressure exerted by gravity? If yes then are these dwarf planets big enough to do so?
OR
Is it something else.

It is time that a few missions are planned for items beyond the orbit of Neptune.

#space, #solarsystem, #dwarfplanets, #frasercain, #astronomy, #KuiperBeltObject, #kuiperbelt,

Even Eris and Makemake Could Have Geothermal Activity
https://www.universetoday.com/165777/even-eris-and-makemake-could-have-geothermal-activity/ #astronomy #DwarfPlanets #geothermal #pluto #Eris #Makemake #methane

#Eris and #Makemake may be dwarf planets, but they're not dead planets: Scientists analyzed data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and found evidence pointing to geothermal activity deep within those mini-worlds. https://cosmiclog.com/2024/02/16/webb-telescope-detects-activity-within-dwarf-planets/ #Space #JWST #DwarfPlanets #Planets

Webb Telescope detects activity within dwarf planets
They may be dwarf planets, but they're not dead planets.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has provided scientists with evidence of geothermal activity deep within two far-out dwarf planets, Eris and Makemake.

“We see some interesting signs of hot times in cool
https://cosmiclog.com/2024/02/16/webb-telescope-detects-activity-within-dwarf-planets/
#CosmicSpace #DwarfPlanets #Eris #JamesWebbSpaceTelescope #Makemake #planets #Space

🚨 News from the Kuiper Belt

SwRI scientists find evidence of geothermal processes producing methane from within icy dwarf planets Eris and Makemake

➡️ press release https://swri.org/press-release/swri-scientists-find-evidence-of-geothermal-activity-within-icy-dwarf-planets

➡️ Icarus paper https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2024.115999

#MakeMake #Eris #dwarfplanets #KuiperBelt #KBO #KuiperBeltObjects #TNO #TransNeptunianObjects #icyworlds #methane #volatiles #molecules #geochemistry #cosmochemistry #astrobiology #life #planetary #science #JWST #SolarSystem #SwRI #IcarusJournal #astronomy #astrodon

Eris may be larger than Pluto (we can't be sure as it's apparently very difficult to get an accurate measure of how big such distant planets actually are) and it was initially described as the tenth planet. It was the discovery of Eris that first sparked the debate over the definition of a planet, which led to Pluto being demoted to "dwarf planet" along with Eris.

10 things you might not know about Eris:

https://topicaltens.blogspot.com/2015/01/5th-january-dwarf-planet-eris.html

#Eris #Space #Planets #DwarfPlanets

4 out of 5 #Uranus #moons likely to have #ocean under crust
A preview of what #UranusOrbiter and Probe might find in the 2040s
The #water is believed to be located between the core and icy crusts in oceans 30km deep for moons Ariel and #Umbriel, and less than 50m for #Titania and #Oberon.
It's not uncommon to find water in dwarf #planets and moons. For example, #dwarfplanets #Ceres and #Pluto, as well as #Saturn's moon #Mimas, have all shown evidence of liquid water.
https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/05/four_out_of_five_uranus/

Pluto team updates science from the solar system’s edge
Nearly eight years after its historic Pluto flyby, NASA’s New Horizons probe is getting ready for another round of observations made from the icy edge of the solar system — and this time, its field of view will range from Uranus and Neptune to the cosmic
https://cosmiclog.com/2023/03/14/pluto-team-updates-science-from-the-solar-systems-edge/
#UniverseToday #Arrokoth #DwarfPlanets #KuiperBelt #LPSC #NASA #NewHorizons #Pluto #Space

'Impossible' new ring system discovered at the edge of the solar system, and scientists are baffled. A ring looping around the icy dwarf planet Quaoar is located much farther from its parent body than was thought was possible.
#astronomy #dwarfplanets
https://www.livescience.com/impossible-new-ring-system-discovered-at-the-edge-of-the-solar-system-and-scientists-are-baffled

"The planet in question is called Quaoar and it's the seventh largest of the known #DwarfPlanets of which #Pluto is the king. Discovered in 2002 and about 697 miles wide (1,121 kilometers), Quaoar is one of the so-called trans-Neptunian objects, small planets orbiting beyond the solar system's outermost planet #Neptune."

A mysterious ring surrounding mini-planet #Quaoar puzzles astronomers | #Space #RocheLimit
https://www.space.com/mysterious-ring-around-dwarf-planet-puzzles-astronomers

Why is Pluto now classified as a dwarf planet? What exactly is a dwarf planet? What is the Kuiper Belt, and Oort cloud? Free resource with great visuals here :-)

https://kaiserscience.wordpress.com/astronomy/planets/planets-dwarf-planets/

@edutooters
@science
@scienceteachers
#science #STEM #NGSS #highschoolteachers #scienceteachers #astronomy #dwarfplanet #dwarfplanets #oortcloud #kuiperbelt