Faraway Eris is Pluto's twin
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - 14:30
in Astronomy & Space
Astronomers have measured the diameter of the dwarf planet Eris by catching it as it passed in front of a faint star. This was seen by telescopes in Chile, including the TRAPPIST telescope at the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory. The observations show that Eris is an almost perfect twin of Pluto in size and appears to be covered in a layer of ice.