XENA BECOMES ERIS
According to a news update at the website of Spaceflight Now, a solar system body known to many astronomers as Xena (She was named after the television character in the show Xena: Warrior Princess) is now going to be named Eris. Eris was the Greek goddess of discord. Eris is a Pluto-like object which lies in the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune. Spaceflight Now comments that this is an apt name considering all the trouble this tiny world has caused astronomers, forcing them to look again at Pluto. At 2400 km in diameter, Eris is even larger than Pluto.
Although Eris is larger than Pluto, it is not to be classed as a major planet of the Solar System. So our solar system now has eight planets. Eris is classed as a dwarf planet. It has a moon named Dysnomia, after the daughter of Eris.
On a personal note, I think it is amazing that all students in public school, as well as almost all adults, have believed for so long that our solar system is empty except for nine planets. When I studied astronomy in college, I learned that there is alot of matter out there that isn't just a star or a planet. There are alot of bodies of matter similar to Eris.