(ORDO NEWS) — On September 13, 2022, NASA‘s James Webb Space Telescope conducted a scientific observation session of Sedna, one of the most distant known dwarf planets in the solar system, which is estimated to be 995-1150 kilometers in diameter.
Previous spectroscopic analysis has shown that the composition of Sedna’s surface is similar to that of some other trans-Neptunian objects containing rock, nitrogen and water ice, methane, and tholins (organic matter).
The surface of Sedna is one of the reddest among the objects of the solar system, which is explained by the large amount of hydrocarbons that appeared as a result of the interaction of solar radiation with, for example, methane.
Sedna is so far from the Sun that it receives almost 4,000 times less solar heat than the Earth . Because of this, the temperature on the dwarf planet drops to -240 degrees Celsius.
Sedna has one of the largest and most elongated orbits in the solar system, so it takes about 11,400 years to complete one revolution around the sun.
The perihelion (the closest point in the orbit to the Sun) of Sedna is 76 astronomical units (AU). For comparison, Pluto ‘s perihelion is 29.7 AU.
Currently, NASA specialists are processing the received data and images, which will be made public, most likely in a few weeks.
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