[meteorite-list] Xena is the 10th New Planet

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=15801892&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=xena-is-10th-new-planet--name_page.html

XENA IS 10TH NEW PLANET
By Stephen White
mirror.co.uk (United Kingdom)
August 1, 2005

ASTRONOMERS have named the solar system's 10th planet Xena - like the
warrior princess in the 90s cult TV show.

It is nine billion miles from the sun and each orbit takes 560 years.

Scientist Michael Brown said: "This will rewrite the history of
astronomy text books.

"Kids have had to learn about the nine planets for many years and I am
now going to give them a little bit more work to do." Xena is icy, rocky
and bigger than Pluto. And like Pluto, scientists believe its surface is
methane.

It is also 97 times further from the Sun than Earth and the constant
temperature is around 240 degrees centigrade below zero.

Mr Brown, planetary scientist at the California Institute of Technology,
added: "This is the first object to be confirmed to be larger than Pluto
in the outer solar system."

Astronomers think Xena is about 1,700 miles in diameter - Earth is 7,900
miles. It was detected with a 48 inch telescope after a five-year search.

The last planet to be discovered in our solar system was Pluto in 1930.

Scientists are still arguing over the discovery 16 months ago of another
"planet" - Sedna believed about 1,250 miles wide. Some say it is too
small to qualify.