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Science 10th Planet Xena Larger Than Pluto
Michael Hoffman (Blog) - February 3, 2006 2:29 PM
Print 33 comment(s) - last by Missing Ghost.. on Feb 4 at 9:45 PM
Potentially the 10th planet in the solar system, scientists confirm that Xena is larger than Pluto

Astronomers recently declared that Xena, the object known as 2003 UB313, is bigger than Pluto -- over 400 miles in diameter larger.  Xena was originally discovered by Mike Brown, a professor of planetary science at the California Institute of Technology, but no one has been able to confirm his original speculation that the object is bigger than Pluto until just recently. Due to the object's irregular orbit, ocassionally Xena's orbit is three times as far from the sun than that of Pluto.

The International Astronomical Union is still in heated debate on whether or not Xena is even a planet.  The group's definition, which is currently being re-evaluated, could leave us with either eight planets (omitting Pluto), or expand it to 10 planets.

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RE: ...but how big is it compared to uranus?
By Griswold on 2/4/2006 11:50:24 AM , Rating: 2
Not quite correct. This "what is large enough to be called a planet" debate is fairly old and certainly older than the discovery of Xena's actual size.

Later this year, Pluto as well as Xena and any "new" discovered object that would be called a planet by todays standards, could lose their status of a planet, when some bright guys and gals redefine the specifications of the term "planet".


By Missing Ghost on 2/4/2006 9:45:27 PM , Rating: 2
For me, if it was created with the sun, it is a planet. If it comes from the outer space, it is not a planet. So pluto is not a planet.
And, what happened to Sedna? I thought it was officially the last planet!


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