Revealing a new dwarf planet right in the Solar System

A space rock that has long been mistaken for asteroids may actually be a dwarf planet like Ceres or Pluto.

A team of scientists led by astronomer Pierre Vernazza from the Marseille Astrophysical Laboratory (France) has presented new evidence that Hygiea , which is considered the fourth largest asteroid in the true Solar System So it's something "more advanced": a dwarf planet.

The study used detailed Hygiea data recorded by the Very Large Telescope of the Southern European Astronomical Head (VLT).

Hygiea's dwarf planet - (photo: PA)

The authors used computer simulations to recreate the fiery collision between two large objects that occurred 2 billion years ago in the Solar System, creating an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter for to this day. Several fragments from the collision have merged into larger objects, including Hygiea, before the gravity of the nearby young Jupiter began strong enough to stop the agglomeration process, leaving no massive objects. else could have come out of that mess.

However, Hygiea is very different from the asteroids created from that collision. It was like a smooth round block, lacking impact craters. Combining many other data, they realized that Hygiea did not have that shape at random, due to the resulting collision. It is circular thanks to its own gravity!

Compared to the definition of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), it must be a dwarf planet. That definition indicates that dwarf planets are bodies orbiting a star large enough to be surrounded by gravity, but there is no strong gravitational dominance to clear the surrounding area. its orbit by "swallowing" or pushing away smaller objects along its path.

If recognized, Hygiea will become the smallest dwarf planet known in the Solar System, on par with Ceres, Haumea, Makemake, Eris and even Pluto - which has been considered a dwarf planet since. when IAU "demoted" in 2006.

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