One More Planet, One More Moon

As if we didn’t already have enough planets …

The Associated Press reports that the same astronomers who claim to have discovered a 10th planet now claim that the new rock has its very own moon.

Read the AP report here:

While observing the new, so-called planet from Hawaii last month, a team of astronomers led by Michael Brown of the California Institute of Technology spotted a faint object trailing next to it. Because it was moving, astronomers ruled it was a moon and not a background star, which is stationary.

The so-called 10th planet (named Xena) was discovered in July. The existence of an observable moon is good news for astronomers, since it will allow them to ascertain the mass and size of the planet.

Cosmic Log comments on the discovery and the name.