[wordup] Varuna, planet-like object past Pluto (fwd)

[Adam Shand]

You know this is a funny thing for a life long Sci/Fi fan to say, but for
some reason this message just made it occur to me that "space is dark".
I know you're thinking "DUH!", but think about it.  In movies space is
black, but it's not dark, you can still see the metors, comets etc.

In real life wouldn't it be dark?  If the scientists are having a hard
time seeing them cause of lack of light and their dark surfaces, how much
light is really out there?  And this is within the solar system?  What
about deep space where all the cool Sci/Fi stories happen?

Hrm.

From: The Eristocracy <Eristocracy at merrymeet.com>

New world rivals Pluto

Varuna: 43 times further away from the Sun than Earth

By BBC News Online science editor Dr David Whitehouse

Detailed observations of a recently discovered large object is prompting a
reappraisal of the myriads of icy worlds that live in the cold, outer
reaches of our Solar System - the Kuiper Belt.

The observations are of Varuna, which was discovered in November 2000. It
was immediately recognised as a very large object, probably the largest in
the Kuiper Belt except for Pluto and its moon Charon.

Combining data obtained from two different types of telescope, the
researchers have calculated Varuna's diameter to be 900 km (550 miles).

Varuna's large size threatens Pluto's status as a fully-fledged planet as
it now seems to be merely the largest of a swarm of similar large worlds
in deep space.

More reflective

Writing in the journal Nature, David Jewitt of the Institute for
Astronomy, Honolulu, Hawaii, US, and colleagues report simultaneous
optical and sub-millimetre wavelength measurements of Varuna, determining
its size and reflectivity for the first time.

Until now, Pluto and its moon Charon were the only members of this ancient
ring of icy bodies for which accurate sizes were known.

At 900 km (550 miles) across, Varuna is only slightly smaller than Charon
(1,200 km or 750 miles in diameter), the tiny moon that orbits Pluto
(2,400 km or 1500 miles in diameter), the most distant of the Sun's
planets.

The data also indicates that Varuna is more reflective than most other
small worlds for which accurate measurements are available - though it is
less reflective than Pluto or Charon.

Shuttle telescope

Scientists say that Varuna goes some way to vindicate the views held by
the late US astronomer Clyde Tombaugh. He discovered Pluto in 1930 looking
for what he called Planet X. He continued his search after its discovery
believing there were other worlds out there waiting to be discovered.

Stephen Tegler, of Northern Arizona University, said: "This work raises
the possibility that Pluto is not the only Planet X, but perhaps one of
several.

"We can now imagine that bodies even larger and more distant than Pluto
will be found. Such objects have so far escaped detection because of their
extreme faintness, due in part to the feeble illuminating light from the
Sun and in part to their very dark surfaces."

Astronomers are hopeful that further discoveries could be made in the
Kuiper Belt, following the launch of a telescope attached to the cargo bay
of the space shuttle.

The Shuttle Infrared Telescope Facility will be deployed in 2002 and is
expected to measure the diameters and reflectivities of dozens of Kuiper
Belt objects.