Discovery of Dysnomia
Descubrimiento de Disnomia
- Date
- 2005 · confidence high
- Place
- W. M. Keck Observatory, Mauna Kea, Hawaii, United States
- Credited to
- Michael E. Brown and the Keck Observatory adaptive optics team
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Brown's team located this moon of Eris using laser guide star adaptive optics at Keck Observatory; its orbit allowed them to calculate Eris's mass and confirm it exceeded that of Pluto.
What it led to
- Calculation of Eris's mass from its moon's orbit
- Confirmation that Eris is more massive than Pluto, the trigger for the 2006 reclassification
- Boost to the use of adaptive optics to search for moons of other dwarf planets