jd's Journal: Bright Trans-Neptunian/Kuiper Belt Object Found

Right now, details are very sketchy on this new discovery, so I'm putting it in the journal, rather than trying to post it as a story. Essentially, European astronomers have found something they call 2003 EL61 and what American astronomers call K40506A.

There are questions on how reflective the object is, which means we don't have that much information on how big it is or how far away it is. The guesses by astronomers, at this point, are pretty speculative, according to the BBC, which is tracking this breaking story.

NASA has published a wild guess as to the orbit, in Java.

The other known super-large (1000Km or bigger) Kuiper Belt objects are:

• Sedna (Diameter unknown, less than 1500 Km)
• 2004 DW (Diameter probably about 1500 Km)
• Quaoar (Diameter of 1200 Km, +/- 200 Km)
• Ixion (Diameter 1065 Km, +/- 165 Km)