Image Credit: R. Hahn & Dark Energy Survey; Overlay: R. M. Candanosa & S. Sheppard, courtesy Carnegie Institution for Science.
Extreme Dwarf Planet Discovered in Search for Planet X
Discovered in part with DECam at CTIO, a new dwarf planet patrols the outer Solar System on a highly elongated orbit: it travels within 65 AU of the Sun at closest approach and as far away as 1000 AU. With its distant orbit, the small planet (300 kilometers in diameter) is sensitive to the dynamics at the edge of the Solar System — and the presence of more massive outer Solar System planets, such as the hypothetical Planet X.
Read more the Carnegie Science press release.
-
Ultra-short Period Planet Found by TESS and Confirmed with CHIRON. This “hot Earth” is in orbit around a star 45 light years away, with a period of just 11 hours. Read more in the paper posted on arXiv. -
A new $4.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation will fund the development of the Windows on the Universe Center for Astronomy Outreach in the iconic McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope Facility on Kitt Peak. -
Read about the Legacy Surveys DR7 in the latest issue of NOAO Currents, including articles on exoplanet observing on CHIRON, news from SOAR & Blanco, research opportunities for time domain astronomy, & more. -
Using DECam on the NSF’s CTIO Blanco telescope, a research team has discovered that supernovae generated by red supergiants are often preceded by a bright flash. -
US scientists invited to help develop exemplar Key Science Programs (KSPs) for GMT and TMT. The KSPs are a key element of the US ELT Program to be presented to the 2020 Decadal Survey. -
Observations acquired under the NN-EXPLORE program with the WIYN telescope have helped confirm the existence of 44 exoplanets. The discovery team included NOAO astronomer Mark Everett. -
Light echoes from the “Great Eruption” in the mid-1800’s of eta Carinae reveal critical details about a centuries-old event. Read more in the Gemini Observatory press release.
