PIA17801: Hubble Finds 'Tenth Planet' is Slightly Larger than Pluto (Artist Concept)
This is an artist's concept of Kuiper Belt object 2003 UB313 (nicknamed 'Xena') and its satellite 'Gabrielle.' Xena is the large object at the bottom of this artist's concept.
 Mission:  Hubble Space Telescope 
 Product Size:  4800 x 3600 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Space Telescope Science Institute 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA17801.tif (51.87 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA17801.jpg (1.187 MB)  

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Original Caption Released with Image:

This is an artist's concept of Kuiper Belt object 2003 UB313 (nicknamed "Xena") and its satellite "Gabrielle."

Ground-based observations suggested that Xena was about 30 percent greater in diameter than Pluto, but Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys images, taken on Dec. 9 and 10, 2005, yielded a diameter of 1,490 miles (with an uncertainty of 60 miles) for Xena. Pluto's diameter, as measured by Hubble, is 1,422 miles.

Xena is the large object at the bottom of this artist's concept. A portion of its surface is lit by the Sun, located in the upper left corner of the image. Xena's companion, Gabrielle, is located just above and to the left of Xena.

Image Credit:
NASA/ESA/STScI

Image Addition Date:
2006-04-11