Astronomers using ESO’s SPHERE instrument at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) have revealed that the asteroid Hygiea could be classified as a dwarf planet. The object is the fourth largest in the asteroid belt after Ceres, Vesta and Pallas. For the first time, astronomers have observed Hygiea in sufficiently high resolution to study its surface and determine its shape and size. They found that Hygiea is spherical, potentially taking the crown from Ceres as the smallest dwarf planet in the Solar System.
The release, images and videos are available on:
https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1918/
Kind regards,
The ESO Department of Communication
28 October 2019
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28 October 2019: Is it Pac-Man trying to swallow the Moon or a fortuitous photo of one of our VLT Auxiliary telescopes on the cover of the 2020 ESO Calendar? The calendar, which ...
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