Focus On: (136199) Eris

Basics

Class: Dwarf planet
Location: Scattered disk
Orbit length (approx): 562.03 years
Discovered: 21st October 2003, 06:25 UTC, from Palomar Observatory, California, by Michael E. Brown, Chad A. Trujillo and David Rabinowitz
Notes: Most massive and second-largest known dwarf planet (ninth known most massive object orbiting the Sun) in the Solar System. High-eccentricity orbit; has one large moon, Dysnomia.
Events at time of discovery:

• October 21 – War on Terrorism: US officials state that they believe Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was killed by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
• – Scientists call for a total ban on fishing for cod in the North Sea to allow stocks to recover from near extinction.
• – The commander of United Nations forces in Afghanistan warns that the security of Kabul is at risk if security is not achieved in the Afghan countryside.
• – Occupation of Iraq: Human Rights Watch (HRW) accuses US troops of using excessive force against civilians in Iraq.
• – Iran's Supreme Council agrees to comply with the IAEA, allow inspections of its nuclear facilities, and suspend its uranium enrichment program.
• – Outbreaks of locusts are reported in Mauritania, Niger and Sudan.
• – The British Government confirms that elections to Northern Ireland's devolved administration will be held on November 26. The Provisional IRA announces a further act of weapons decommissioning. Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams declares "the end to physical force republicanism".
• – Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The UN General Assembly approves a resolution demanding that Israel remove a security fence in the West Bank by an overwhelming majority of 144 to 4, with the US voting against the motion.
• – Ecuador: US oil company ChevronTexaco is charged in court with polluting a once-pristine swath of the Amazon rainforest. The plaintiffs' lawyers have put a US$1 billion price tag on clean up and medical care for the region's inhabitants.
• – Death of Fred Berry, 52, American actor
• – Death of Alfred Rose, 71, Indian Konkani singer, composer, and actor
• – Death of Elliott Smith, 34, American musician
• – Death of Arturo Warman, 66, Mexican anthropologist, author, and politician

Focus On: (136108) Haumea

Basics

Class: BB-type dwarf planet/plutoid
Location: Trans-Neptunian Object (TNO)
Orbit length (approx): 281.07 years
Discovered: 7th March 2003, 00:40 UTC, from Sierra Nevada Observatory in Spain
Notes: Third-largest known trans-Neptunian object, after Eris and Pluto.
Events at time of discovery:

• March 7 – Death of José Márcio Ayres, 49, Brazilian conservationist and zoologist, founded Brazilian rain forest reserves
• – Death of Manfred Durniok, 68, German film producer, director and screenwriter
• – Death of Monica Hughes, 77, Canadian SF author
• March 8 – Malta approves joining the European Union in a referendum.

Focus On: (38083) Rhadamanthus

Basics

Class: TNO
Location: Kuiper belt
Orbit length (approx): 241.61 years
Discovered: 17th April 1999, 03:19 UTC, from National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) in Arizona, by the Deep Ecliptic Survey.
Notes: Was originally thought to be a plutino but it turns out this is not the case.
Events at time of discovery:

• April 14 – Kosovo War: NATO warplanes repeatedly bomb ethnic Albanian refugee convoys for 2 hours over a 12-mile stretch of road, after mistaking them for Yugoslav military trucks, between Đakovica and Dečani in western Kosovo, killing at least 73 refugees.
• April 17 – Death of Julian Cole, 74, American mathematician
• – Death of Ahmad bin Mohamed Ibrahim, 82, Singaporean lawyer and law professor
• April 20 – Columbine High School massacre.

Focus On: (20000) Varuna

Basics

Class: IR-type cubewano, probably a dwarf planet
Location: Kuiper belt
Orbit length (approx): 280.76 years
Discovered: 28th November 2000 at 09:51 UTC, from Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona by Spacewatch (Robert McMillan)
Events at time of discovery:

• November 20 – Alberto Fujimori, President of Peru, faxes his resignation from a hotel room in Japan, having fled Peru after facing corruption charges. Fujimori would be officially removed from office by Congress on the 22nd.
• November 28 – Death of Gregg Barton, 88, American actor
• – Death of Robert Bentley, 93, American animator
• – Death of Liane Haid, 105, Austrian actress