Scientists have discovered that the dwarf planet Quaoer has a ring structure. An artist’s impression of Quax with its rings. (European Space Agency)
[The Epoch Times, February 10, 2023](Reported by Epoch Times reporter Chen Juncun) Scientists discovered that a dwarf planet (dwarf planet) in the outer solar system has a ring structure, and the distance between the ring structure and the dwarf planet is shorter than normal The rings are much farther away, giving astronomers a whole new perspective.
According to a report on the website of the European Space Agency (European Space Agency) on February 8, the dwarf planet is called Quaoar (Quaoar), and its average distance from the sun is regarding 44 times the average distance from the earth to the sun. Its rings are regarding 7.5 times its radius away from it.
Scientists used the agency’s Characterization of Exoplanet Explorer Satellite (CHEOPS) to observe the ring-shaped structure of Quaojia during an occultation. The so-called occultation phenomenon refers to the occultation phenomenon produced by the planet passing between the star and the observer.
Bruno Morgado, an astronomer at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, said that when they put everything in place, they saw a decrease in brightness, but that was not caused by Quaoar, which means that Matter exists in the circular orbit around it.
When it comes to the ring structure of the planet, the huge Saturn ring is the most representative. As conspicuous as this ring of dust and moonlets looks, it’s only half as massive as Earth’s Antarctic Ice Shelf.
Quaoar’s rings are much smaller than Saturn’s rings, but interesting nonetheless. It is unique in its position relative to Queues, that is, it is much farther away from Queues than a typical planetary ring is from the planet.
The gravitational field of any celestial body has a range, and other objects close to this gravitational field will be sucked in. Such a range is called the Roche limit. Under normal circumstances, planetary rings will exist within the Roche limit, otherwise they will merge into small satellites, such as the planetary rings of Saturn, Chariklo and Haumea are all within the Roche limit .
Giovanni Bruno, an astronomer at the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF), said that what is interesting regarding Quaoer is that its ring structure exists far outside the Roche limit.
This is a mystery, Bruno said, because the conventional wisdom is that rings beyond the Roche limit coalesce into small moons within a few decades.
“Thanks to our observations, the old idea that such dense rings exist only within the Roche limit of planets has to be radically revised,” he said.
Preliminary research suggests that Quaoar’s cold temperature may prevent the icy particles on its ring structure from binding together, but scientists need more research to confirm.
Responsible editor: Li Ming#
