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Post by Mistress Rell on Sept 22, 2008 8:00:17 GMT -5
Pluto and its dwarf planet brethren have a new friend. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) announced the name of a new dwarf planet to join the existing four in the solar system. The object previously known as 2003 EL61 is now named Haumea, after the goddess of childbirth and fertility in Hawaiian mythology. The name was decided by members of the International Astronomical Union's Committee on Small Body Nomenclature and the IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature. The discovery of the odd, football-shaped Haumea was first announced in 2005. It was found by a group led by Jose-Luis Ortiz of the Sierra Nevada Observatory in Spain, as well as a team led by Mike Brown of Caltech, who was also behind the discovery of the dwarf planet Eris. Full Article
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