Eris: Dwarf planet’s structure may be ‘softer’ than scientists imagined

Francis Nimmo, professor of planetary sciences at the University of California at Santa Cruz in the United States, after becoming interested in Pluto’s reclassification as a dwarf planet. Became interested in a similar planet called Eris. HE The celestial object was discovered in 2005, when astronomers detected the cosmic object in the Kuipe Belt.R.; Recently, the dwarf planet was the subject of a new study published in the scientific journal Science Advances.

According to the information in the article, the professor realized a few months ago that some new, unpublished data on Éris could reveal more information about the celestial body. In partnership with Michael Brown of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Nimmo began studying more about the planet’s internal structure and discovered that Eris may be softer than expected.

The article describes the confrontation between Eris and its moon Dismonia. Orbital features helped understand the internal structures of both cosmic objects. So scientists discovered that: unexpectedly drains energy due to interaction with dwarf planet Dysnomia; In other words, it has a ‘softer’ structure than expected.

Nimmo explained: “This is because the big planet slows down because of the tides the little moon sends to it. The bigger the moon, the faster the planet slows down. So once you figure that out, you can start doing real calculations.” A statement official from the University of California at Santa Cruz said.

Eris: ‘soft’ dwarf planet

The results of the observations indicate that Éris has a convecting ice sheet around a rocky core; What happens is that the high temperature radioactive elements in this core escape from the rocks and ‘dissolve’ the ice, causing convection. Therefore, the dwarf planet’s core may be “soft” rather than hard; In a simpler comparison, scientists explain this: The celestial body behaves more like a ‘soft cheese’ than a hard object.

Anyway, The researchers explain that they need to analyze more data to confirm whether the information in the new study is actually accurate. They are also trying to understand more details of Dysnomia’s structure, as the data may suggest that Éris is even more ‘soft’.

“We note that Eris has to be pretty smooth, because if there is any topography on the surface, the ice will flow and that topography will disappear. It would be good to get some measurements of the shape of Eris, because if it’s too irregular, that doesn’t fit our model,” adds Nimmo.

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