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Eris

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Astronomical Object

The Resume

    (January 5, 2005- )
    Discovered by a team at Mount Palomar Observatory headed by Mike Brown
    Diameter: 1,500 miles, 4% larger than Pluto
    Distance from the Sun: 3.5 billion to 9.1 billion miles
    Length of Year: 557 years
    Natural Satellites: One, Dysnomia
    Surface is covered in methane ice

Why Eris might be annoying:

    Because it is larger than Pluto, it sparked a debate among astronomers about whether it should be classified as a planet or Pluto's status should be demoted.
    It and Pluto were officially designated 'dwarf planets,' leaving the solar system with only eight planets (2006).
    It quickly made a lot of astronomy textbooks out of date.
    It was originally named Xena and its moon was originally named Gabrielle, but the names weren't accepted by the International Astronomical Union.
    It was first photographed in 2003, but not noticed because it was moving slower than the cutoff point of the image-searching software.
    After the discovery of Sedna, Brown's team reanalyzed the data with a lower limit on the movement speed.

Why Eris might not be annoying:

    It was named Eris, after the Greek goddess of discord, to reflect the debate over the object's nature in astronomical circles.
    Eris's natural satellite was named to pay tribute to the original name of Xena: Dysnomia was a demon of lawlessness, and Xena was played by Lucy Lawless.
    It is the largest object orbiting the sun discovered since Neptune in 1846.
    Despite its distance, it is bright enough to be seen with some amateur telescopes.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 230 Votes: 26.52% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 7 Votes: 28.57% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 32 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 62 Votes: 38.71% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 64 Votes: 45.31% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 21 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 58 Votes: 36.21% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 40 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 146 Votes: 43.84% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 213 Votes: 40.38% Annoying