Astronomers found a ring around a dwarf planet, far from the Roche limit where it should not have existed. Read to know what this means and why it matters.
All about the ring around the dwarf planet
Astronomers found shocking evidence of a ring around Quaoar, a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt at the edge of the solar system. However, the rings are located very far away from the planet. As per the study, this is unusual and defies theoretical explanations. The study is titled ‘A dense ring of the trans-Neptunian object Quaoar outside its Roche limit’ and published in Nature. It was led by Bruno Morgado from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Bruno Sicardy from the Paris Observatory, and others.
As per the study, the rings are far away from the Roche limit. It is a mathematically explained distance beyond which planetary rings are not existing. According to Morgado, the findings are “very strange”. He added that this may force astronomers to rethink the laws that are governing planetary rings.
More on the unusual planetary ring
The planetary ring around the dwarf planet was seen due to a stellar occultation. It occurs when a brighter star passes behind a planet, allowing people on Earth to observe the silhouette of the planet. Researchers made use of this opportunity to analyze the atmosphere of the planet and determine if it has a ring. Back in 1977, this observed the Uranian ring system as a possibility. The research team has been examining Quaoar for the last three years using space and earth-based telescopes. “However, they also observed some dimming of the starlight before and after the star blinked out. That pointed to a ring obscuring part of the light,” revealed a New York Times report.