Astronomers discover 139 "minor planets" beyond Neptune

16 Mar 2020

Astronomers discover 139 “minor planets” beyond Neptune

Astronomers discover 139 “minor planets” beyond NeptuneAs per a new report published in The Astrophysical Journal, astronomers have recently discovered 139 "minor planets" beyond Neptune. This adds to the current tally of such objects (called trans-Neptunian objects or TNO) which stands at 3000.

Minor planets are small bodies circling the Sun that are neither official planets nor comets.

How did they make this discovery?

The astronomers made this discovery from data collected by the Dark Energy Survey (DES) from 2013 to 2017.
 	They studied over 7 billion 'dots' detected by the DES and found the 139 minor planets among them. They are now analysing DES' entire data (from 2013 to 2019) for more findings.

What is the Dark Energy Survey (DES)?

The DES studies space to find out more about dark energy. Dark energy is the mysterious force that scientists think is behind the universe's expansion.
 	They conducted the survey using the Dark Energy Camera, located at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile.
 	While the DES is meant to study dark energy, the scientists also used the data collected to make other findings, such as the above.

Why is this discovery important?

This discovery could bring us closer to discovering Planet Nine.
 	Planet Nine is a planet which scientists believe exists undiscovered in the far outer solar system.
 	Scientists have theorised its existence after analysing the unusual formation of some TNOs.

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As per a new report published in The Astrophysical Journal, astronomers have recently discovered 139 “minor planets” beyond Neptune. This adds to the current tally […]

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