Asteroid Hygiea has been promoted to a dwarf Planet
The Reclassification makes Hygiea the smallest dwarf planet in the entire solar system
New discoveries in the shape of a strange phenomenon, unknown objects, exoplanets is what keeps my interest alive & fuels my passion for space even further. Astronomers have now promoted an object in the asteroid belt to a dwarf planet. Using detailed observations from European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) SPHERE instrument at the Very Large Telescope (VLT), they were able to identify Hygiea as the smallest new addition to the lineup of dwarf planets in our solar system.
Back in March, the new SPHERE (Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch) instrument of the VLT broke ground in exoplanet imaging by employing a new technique called optical interferometry. This gravity instrument on the ESO’s VLT which provides high resolution & sensitivity. The system basically employs multiple telescopes to mimic one large telescope.
Details of an exoplanet HR8799e discovered in 2010 — a ‘super Jupiter’ lying 129 light-years from Earth & only 30 million years old were revealed by using the super telescope VLTI. New insights provided astronomers valuable information about the formation of planetary systems & their evolution. The detailed study of HR8799e was…
