Orbit or Eris. Computer graphic of the orbit (large oval) of the dwarf planet Eris. The orbits of the other eight planets and Pluto are also shown. Earth's orbit is shown in red close to the Sun,which is at the centre of the orbits. Eris was formerly known as 2003 UB313,and was nicknamed Xena by its discoverers. It is larger than Pluto,and takes 560 years to orbit the Sun. Its distance from the Sun ranges from 38 to 95 times the Earth-Sun distance. Like Pluto and Sedna,Eris is a large member of the Kuiper Belt of,mostly small,icy bodies. The discovery was made at the Palomar Observatory,USA,by Mike Brown,Chad Trujillo and David Rabinowitz,and announced in July 2005 |