WASHINGTON — The small distant world called Quaoar, named after a god of creation in Native American mythology, is producing some surprises for astronomers as it orbits beyond Pluto in the frigid outer reaches of our solar system.
Researchers said on Wednesday they have detected a ring encircling Quaoar akin to the one around the planet Saturn. But the one around Quaoar defies the current understanding of where such rings can form — located much further away from it than current scientific understanding would allow.
Researchers said on Wednesday they have detected a ring encircling Quaoar akin to the one around the planet Saturn. But the one around Quaoar defies the current understanding of where such rings can form — located much further away from it than current scientific understanding would allow.
The distance of the ring from Quaoar places it in a location where scientists believe particles should readily come together around a celestial body to form a moon rather than remain as separate components in a disk of ring material.
“This is the discovery of a ring located in a place that should not be possible,” said astronomer Bruno Morgado of the Valongo Observatory and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature.
“This is the discovery of a ring located in a place that should not be possible,” said astronomer Bruno Morgado of the Valongo Observatory and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature.
Discovered in 2002, Quaoar is currently defined as a minor planet and is proposed as a dwarf planet, though it has not been formally given that status by the International Astronomical Union, the scientific body that does such things.
Its diameter of about 1,110 km is about a third that of Earth's moon.
Inhabiting a distant region called the Kuiper belt populated by various icy bodies, Quaoar orbits about 43 times further than Earth's distance to the sun.
Quaoar's ring was spotted using the European Space Agency's orbiting Cheops telescope, whose primary
purpose is to study planets beyond our solar system.
The ring, a disk made of ice-covered particles, is located about 4,100 km away from Quaoar's centre.
“Ring systems may be due to debris from the same formation process that originated the central body or may be due to material resulting after a collision with another body and captured by the central body. We do not have hints at the moment on how the Quaoar ring formed,” said astronomer and study co-author Isabella Pagano, director of Italian research institute INAF's Astrophysical Observatory of Catania.
The Province
9 Feb 2023
15