Distant Object 'DeeDee' Makes the Dwarf Planet Grade
By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | April 12, 2017 02:20pm ET
The solar system's dwarf-planet population is about to increase by one.
The far-flung object 2014 UZ224 informally known as DeeDee, for "Distant Dwarf" is about 395 miles wide (635 kilometers), new observations reveal. That means the frigid object probably harbors enough mass to be shaped into a sphere by its own gravity, entitling it to "dwarf planet" status, researchers said.
Astronomers first spotted DeeDee in 2014 using the optical Blanco telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile (though they didn't announce the discovery until 2016). [Meet the Solar System's Dwarf Planets]
More:
http://www.space.com/36445-deedee-distant-dwarf-planet-alma-telescope.html?utm_source=notification
Science:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/122851454
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Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Atacama Desert, Chile