Large Kuiper Belt Object 2007 OR10 Finally Given a Name: Gonggong
takyon writes:
2007 OR10 is now known as 225088 Gonggong, and its moon has been named Xiangliu:
Not far behind Pluto, the fifth-largest dwarf planet in the solar system hasn't had a name since it was discovered in 2007. It's just been hanging out beyond Neptune under the boring catalog designation 2007 OR10.
Well, that's officially changed as the previously largest unnamed body in the solar system is now officially Gonggong, named for a Chinese water god with the head of a human and the body of a snake.
And as a cool bonus, the tiny moon that orbits Gongong is named Xiangliu, after the minister that attended to the deity in Chinese folklore. The pair make up the first major solar system bodies to have Chinese names, according to astrophysicist Simon Porter.
See also: Seven Worlds in the Solar System That Could Be Just As Weird As Pluto
Standing on its surface, the icy ground would look dark and red, like Pluto. Indeed, 2007 OR10 is one of the reddest worlds astronomers know of. That reddish hue hints at the presence of complex organic compounds astronomers call tholins.
[...] Research published in 2011 [open, DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/738/2/L26] [DX] also showed that 2007 OR10 has a fresh surface covered in water ice. Astronomers think it's evidence of cryovolcanoes, where slushy ice erupts from below the surface like lava.
Previously: Large Moon Confirmed Around Slowly Rotating Dwarf Planet 2007 OR10
Public Asked to Vote on a Name for Dwarf Planet 2007 OR10
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