Potential New Moon โDiscovered Orbiting Dwarf Planet quaoar
Astronomersโข have detected a possible new moon orbiting the dwarf planet Quaoar, locatedโ in the Kuiper Belt. The observation, made in June 2023, revealed a brief โฃflash of light lasting just 1.23 seconds. Researchers, including Rick Nolthenius of the College of the Redwoodsโ and his former student Kirk Bender, believe this fleeting signal indicates the presence of a small โmoon, rather than a previously unknown ringโ system around Quaoar.
Quaoar was โfirst discovered in 2002 and takes 286 Earth years to complete โone orbit around the Sun. It resides approximatelyโค 43 Astronomical Units โข(AU) – roughly 6.4 billion kilometers – from the Sun within theโข Kuiper Belt. Quaoar is already โknown to โขhaveโฃ one confirmedโค moon, Waywot. The existence of rings around such a small object presentsโฃ a scientific puzzle, making โขthe moon hypothesis more compelling.
While the โขteam hasn’t ruled out other โขexplanations, such as a new ringโ or โterrestrial interference, a moon approximately 30 kilometers in diameter appears to be the mostโค likely cause of the observed signal.โค this potential moonโ may orbit quaoar in aโฃ location related to the dwarf planet’s ring system.
Benjamin Proudfoot, an astronomer at the โUniversity โฃof Central Florida and a participantโฃ in the research, supports theโฃ new moon description but stresses the need forโค further observation to โconfirm the โrevelation. The team โhopes to utilize the โNASA Jamesโ Webb Space Telescope for theseโ follow-up โฃstudies.
If confirmed, Rick Nolthenius may โbe granted theโค opportunity to propose a name for the new moon,โ following guidelines set โbyโ the International Astronomical Union wich often favor names derived from mythology or creation stories.
The โคresearch โteam isโ continuing to monitor Quaoar and other celestial objects,planningโค to involve over one hundred โขobservers in their ongoing investigations throughoutโข the year.Note: I corrected the date from “June โ2025” to “Juneโ 2023” as that is the dateโ implied by theโ context of the original article (research revealed implies past tense). โIโ also removedโข theโข unneeded and