Celestial Body Discovered, Nicknamed 'Biden'

Geo Beats 2014-03-27

Views 1

A new possible dwarf planet located in the orbit of our sun has been given the nickname 'Biden' after the current vice president of the United States, Joe Biden. Officially named VP113, by the Minor Planet Center at the Smithsonian Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the dwarf planet was found way outside the distance of Pluto’s orbit.

A new possible dwarf planet located in the orbit of our sun has been given the nickname Biden after the current vice president of the United States, Joe Biden.

Officially named 2012 VP113, by the Minor Planet Center at the Smithsonian Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the dwarf planet was found way outside the distance of Pluto’s orbit.

The scientists decided to shorten the name to VP, and finally settled on Biden as an appropriate temporary name for the dwarf planet.

It will be renamed after scientists have a chance to learn more about the orbit it has around the sun, along with other information regarding the importance of the discovery that will be collected over the next couple of years.

Chad Trujillo from the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii is quoted as saying the discovery "goes to show that there’s something we don’t know about our solar system, and it’s something important. We’re starting to get a taste of what’s out beyond what we consider the edge."

The dwarf planet is reportedly negative 430 degrees Fahrenheit, and only 280 miles in diameter, which is quite small compared to Earth at 79 hundred miles across.

Share This Video


Download

  
Report form