The biggest undubbed dwarf planet orbiting our Sun had finally received a name. As it is known by now, our solar system consists of the Sun, a bunch of moons, and the eight planets. Also, there are a lot of comets, asteroids, and dwarf planets traveling around. The most praised of those categories is most likely Pluto, which is the largest, too.
But, not far away from Pluto, the fifth-biggest dwarf planet in the solar system hasn’t received a title since it was identified back in 2007. It has only been wandering beyond Neptune under the monotonous catalog designation 2007 OR10. Now, the scientists named this space object as Gonggong.
2007 OR10 is the first dwarf planet that has a Chinese name
Recently, 2007 OR10 has been officially named as Gonggong, after Chinese water god with a snake-body and a human-head. And as even better good news, the little moon that circles Gonggong is dubbed Xiangliu, after the representative that served to the deity in Chinese folklore. The duo is the first most significant solar system objects to get Chinese names, according to Simon Porter, an astrophysicist.
The pair was identified by a team of astronomers who later made an online poll, demanding the public for any name ideas. Gonggong was chosen and was presented to the IAU (the International Astronomical Union), which manages the official directory of the universe. However, it wasn’t until Wednesday when the IAU’s Minor Planet Center had affirmed the title and renewed its catalog. 2007 OR10 is officially from now on, known as Gonggong.
The cosmic body has a somehow red tint, and it could support some methane, stinky atmosphere. Probably, this space object won’t get the features of its namesake, who’s known for producing a lot of suffering and damage, such as floods and even hitting the Earth’s axis off its place. Maybe, the influence of Xiangliu will keep Gonggong chill.
