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PIA08003: Newest Member of Our Solar System (Artist's Concept)
 Target Name:  Eris
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Spacecraft:  Palomar Observatory
 Instrument:  Samuel Oschin Telescope 
 Product Size:  3000 x 2250 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  California Institute of Technology 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA08003.tif (20.25 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA08003.jpg (195.7 kB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Updated Caption: (View Original Caption)

The dwarf planet, formerly known as 2003 UB313 (or Xena), is now called Eris, after the Greek goddess of discord and strife.

This artist's concept shows the planet catalogued as 2003 UB313 at the lonely outer fringes of our solar system. Our Sun can be seen in the distance. The new planet, which is yet to be formally named, is at least as big as Pluto and about three times farther away from the Sun than Pluto. It is very cold and dark. The planet was discovered by the Samuel Oschin Telescope at the Palomar Observatory near San Diego, Calif., on Jan. 8, 2005.

A joint effort between JPL and the California Institute of Technology, the Palomar Observatory near San Diego houses a collection of famous telescopes, including the Hale 200-inch and Samuel Oschin 48-inch telescopes. The Palomar Adaptive Optics System, built by JPL and Caltech, corrects for the atmospheric blur of astronomical targets caused by turbulence in Earth's atmosphere. This system's camera was built by Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech

Image Addition Date:
2005-08-03