An international team of astronomers has discovered a new hitherto unknown ring system in the reaches of our solar system around Quaoar, one distant dwarf planet smaller in size than Pluto, which was discovered in 2002 and orbits the Sun beyond Neptune.
His small and faint rings Quaoar is unique as, as reported by the RES-MPE, they orbit it at a much greater distance than the rings around Saturn which so far has no satisfactory explanation.
The 59 researchers from 14 countries, who made the relevant publication in the journal “ Nature ”, led by Brazilian Bruno Morgado of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, made their discovery with the world’s largest optical telescope of 10.4 meters in diameter, the Great Telescope of the Canary Islands in La Palma.
The rings who they contain chunks of ice and other materials, they are rare in our solar system. Apart from those of Saturn (the most famous and impressive), Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, only two other minor planets have been found to have rings, Chariclos and Haumea. In all these cases the rings are relatively close to the planets, while in Quaoar they move at a distance of 4,100 kilometers from the center of the planet, seven times the radius of the latter and more than twice as expected. In Saturn e.g. its rings move up to about three planetary radii apart.