Scientists are concerned, because they found that there is one ring around one dwarf planet, which is not only difficult to detect, but under normal circumstances should be absent. In particular, they state that it has a “ring similar to that of Saturn”, but it is not visible from telescopes, while in order to be observed it needs to have “proper lighting”.
The New York Times reports that the professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Bruno Morgado made a relevant publication in the journal Nature and refers to dwarf planet Quaoar a planetary body about 700 miles in diameter where revolves around the Sun in a distance of about four billion miles.
It is normally pronounced KWA-wahr and his name comes from the God of the Tongva natives who inhabited the Los Angeles area. The minor planet is less than half the diameter of Pluto and about one-third the diameter of Earth’s Moon.
Experts describe it as a “drop” in the galaxy and they report that he has one Moon called Weywot while orbiting the Sun at Kuiper belt, a region beyond Neptune that includes Pluto. So far, the available evidence is scant, but a chance observation has raised many questions.
A small icy world far beyond Neptune possesses a ring like the ones around Saturn. Perplexingly, the ring is at a distance where simple gravitational calculations suggest there should be none. https://t.co/gRcEPcmfi6
— The New York Times (@nytimes)
A small icy world far beyond Neptune possesses a ring like the ones around Saturn. Perplexingly, the ring is at a distance where simple gravitational calculations suggest there should be none. https://t.co/gRcEPcmfi6
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 9, 2023
Uneven ring and the position of the stars
Scientists had observed Quaoar, but had not detected the existence of a ring. However, the period 2018-2021 the planet passed in front of four stars and astronomers on Earth observed the shadow of eclipses, also known as stellar occultations. However, they detected some reduction in starlight. Then, a ring was revealed that hid part of the light.
According to experts, this particular ring is uneven and to in some places it seems too thin in width while in others it seems as if it spreads over hundreds of miles.
In fact, they emphasize that it shouldn’t exist why the particles should normally have merged into a Moon within 10 or 20 years. “Its particles, if collected, would form a moon about three miles wide,” Morgado said.
What does this mean
“He really shouldn’t be there. We will have to look at it again and better understand how satellites form,” said Professor Bruno Morgado. THE Richard G. French h, professor emeritus of astrophysics at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, reports that the way particles accumulate in the annulus it’s the initial step in planet formation.
In case therefore, it is officially established that the existence of the ring on Quaoar is not justified by the evidence already known then scientists should review how planets form which will bring significant changes to scientific research.
So far, the experts they argue that the ring was created because the Moon Weywot created gravitational disturbances that prevented the ring particles from accreting onto another moon. At the same time, extremely cold temperatures in the outer solar system made the particles more dynamic and greatly reduced the chances of them sticking together to form another planet. Nevertheless, all possibilities are still open and the mystery remains.