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Is There an Earth-Like Planet in the Distant Kuiper Belt?

2 pointsby japagetover 1 year ago

3 comments

Someoneover 1 year ago
Earth-sized in mass, maybe, but earth-like?<p>They argue there may be a ∼ 1.5–3 M⊕ object out there, but don’t say anything about its size or surface temperature.<p>At ∼ 200–500 au, chances are it would be mostly ice. (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Kuiper_belt" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Kuiper_belt</a>: <i>“most Kuiper belt objects are composed largely of frozen volatiles (termed &quot;ices&quot;), such as methane, ammonia, and water”</i>)<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Kuiper_belt#Composition" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Kuiper_belt#Composition</a>: <i>“The temperature of the belt is only about 50 K”</i><p><i>“The densities range from less than 0.4 to 2.6 g&#x2F;cm³”</i><p>⇒ a bit heavier and likely way less dense than earth (at 5.5 g&#x2F;cm³, the densest object in the solar system. See <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.forbes.com&#x2F;sites&#x2F;startswithabang&#x2F;2020&#x2F;03&#x2F;31&#x2F;this-is-why-earth-surprisingly-is-the-densest-object-in-our-solar-system&#x2F;?sh=1712f0617be6" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.forbes.com&#x2F;sites&#x2F;startswithabang&#x2F;2020&#x2F;03&#x2F;31&#x2F;this...</a>), so likely at least double its diameter, and very cold, so not earth-like.<p>That title is click-bait.
sfn42over 1 year ago
I don&#x27;t know, is there?
beardywover 1 year ago
Betteridge&#x27;s law<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Betteridge%27s_law_of_headli...</a>