As many as 1,400 icy objects inhabit a region of our solar system some 2.9 to 4.7 billion mile from the sun . The European Space Agency’sHerschel Space Observatoryhas studied 132 of them , revealing a strike variety of shapes , size and colors .
These trans - Neptunian aim ( TNOs ) — which include world such as Pluto , Eris , Haumea and Makemake — are exceedingly stale , at around -382 Fahrenheit . But these low-pitched temperature lend themselves to observations by Herschel , which take in long - wavelength infrared radiation sickness from some of the coldest and most distant objects in the universe .
Herschel was able to measure the sizes and albedos , the fraction of seeable twinkle reflected from the aerofoil , of 132 TNOs ( represented in the graphic above ) . They range from just below 31 miles to almost 1,491 mile in diam . Pluto and Eris are the large . Two mankind have distinctly elongated shapes : Haumea ( see in white ) and Varuna ( short brown ) . Some even host their own moons ( not show ) .
The albedo measuring imply a variety of aerofoil constitution : low albedo ( brown ) is an meter reading of dark surface materials , such as constituent material , while high-pitched albedo ( white ) suggests pure ices .
TNOs are thought to be among the most primitive leftover of the satellite - organize era , so astronomers mean to use this data in testing different framework of how the solar organization develop .
[ ViaESA ]
AstronomySpace
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