With Eris being larger, made of the same ice/rock mixture, and more massive than Pluto, the concept that we have nine planets in the Solar System began to fall apart. It also has approximately 25% more mass than Pluto. Since its discovery, astronomers have determined that Eris’ size is approximately 2,600 km (1,600 miles) across. Officially named 2003 UB313, the object was later designated as Eris. They had discovered an object, further out than the orbit of Pluto that was probably the same size, or even larger. And there are several other Kuiper Belt objects in that same classification.Īstronomers realized that it was only a matter of time before an object larger than Pluto was discovered in the Kuiper Belt.Īnd in 2005, Mike Brown and his team dropped the bombshell. 2005 FY9, discovered by Caltech astronomer Mike Brown and his team is only a little smaller than Pluto. Astronomers had been turning up larger and larger objects in the Kuiper Belt.
And according to the new rules, Pluto is not a planet. This region extends from the orbit of Neptune out to 55 astronomical units (55 times the distance of the Earth to the Sun).Īstronomers estimate that there are at least 70,000 icy objects, with the same composition as Pluto, that measure 100 km across or more in the Kuiper Belt.
Instead of being the only planet in its region, like the rest of the Solar System, Pluto and its moons are now known to be just a large example of a collection of objects called the Kuiper Belt. Over the last few decades, powerful new ground and space-based observatories have completely changed previous understanding of the outer Solar System.
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