Pluto Ninth Biggest Orbiting Object Once Again

When Pluto was kicked out of the lineup of planets in 2006, it ruined the mnemomic devices used by children everywhere to remember the members of the solar system. While Pluto is not being added back to that group of celestial bodies, scienticts do believe once again that it is the ninth biggest body orbiting the Sun.

Since 2005, astronmers had thought that dward plant Eris was bigger than Pluto; recent studies suggest that though they are the same general shape, Pluto is possibly a touch bigger than Eris, according to the Web site io9.

It could be smaller, it could be larger; basically, it is a twin, said Paris Observatory astronomer Bruno Sicardy, the lead researcher on the investigation, according to the site.

The discobery or Eris is what led to Pluto's demotion. It is farther from the Sun than Pluto by about three times, according to the Daily Mail.

The Daily Mail reported that researchers initially thought Eris was bigger than Pluto because it gave off a bright glow--they now think this comes from a methane and frost layer on the body's surface.