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Hubble Images of 2007 OR10

Hubble Images of 2007 OR<sub>10</sub>

This sequence of images, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3, shows a moon circling the dwarf planet 2007 OR10. The top four images were taken Nov. 6, 2009; the bottom four, on Sept. 18, 2010.

As 2007 OR10 orbits the sun, it changes position with respect to the background stars (the bright objects that change from panel to panel). The snapshots reveal that the moon moves with the dwarf planet, proving that it is gravitationally bound to the larger body.

2007 OR10 is the third-largest known dwarf planet, behind Pluto and Eris, and the largest unnamed world in the solar system. The pair is located in the Kuiper Belt, a realm of icy debris left over from the solar system's formation.

The dwarf planet is about 950 miles across; the moon is estimated to be 150 miles to 250 miles in diameter. 2007 OR10, like Pluto, follows an eccentric orbit, but it is currently three times farther than Pluto is from the sun.

About the Object

  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    2007 OR10 is approximately 87 AU from the sun
  • Dimensions
    DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
    2007 OR10 is approximately 954 miles (1,535 kilometers) in diameter. The companion is approximately 147 miles (237 kilometers) in diameter.

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
    HST data from proposals 11644, M. Brown (Caltech) and 12234, W. Fraser (Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics) were used in the analysis.
  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    HST WFC3/UVIS
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    Nov. 6, 2009, Sep. 18, 2010
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    WFC3/UVIS: F606W, F775W, and F814W
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    2007 OR10
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Trans-Neptunian Dwarf Planet
  • Release Date
    May 18, 2017
  • Science Release
    Hubble Spots Moon Around Third Largest Dwarf Planet
    Read the release
  • Credit
    NASA, ESA, C. Kiss (Konkoly Observatory), and J. Stansberry (STScI)

Downloads

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Hubble Images of 2007 OR<sub>10</sub>
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

These images were taken with HST's WFC3/UVIS instrument using the F606W, F775W, and F814W filters. Color was added to the grayscale images using a blue color mapping. Blue: F606W+F775W+F814W (B)

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Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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