Sedna is a trans-Neptunian object with the minor-planet number 90377. It was discovered on November 14, 2003, by the astronomers Michael Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David Rabinowitz. As of 2023, Sedna is 84 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun, which is almost three times the distance between Neptune and the Sun. Sedna's orbit is an ellipse and its aphelion is approximately 937 AU (140 billion km). For most of its orbital period, Sedna is farther from the Sun than any known dwarf planet candidate of its size. Sedna is one of the reddest objects in the Solar System. It is mostly composed of water, methane, and nitrogen ices with tholins. It may have formed within the same open cluster where the Sun was born as some astronomers suggest that Sedna is a celestial body captured by the Sun from another star system. Brown considers Sedna to be the most important trans-Neptunian object ever discovered, because its unusual orbit may yield information about the origin and early evolution of the Solar System.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/90377_Sedna
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1941:
World War II: German troops, aided by local auxiliaries, murdered nine thousand residents of the Słonim Ghetto in a single day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C5%82onim_Ghetto
1960:
Ruby Bridges and the McDonogh Three became the first black children to attend an all-white elementary school in Louisiana as part of the New Orleans school desegregation crisis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans_school_desegregation_crisis
1991:
Croatian War of Independence: Croatian naval commandos attacked the Yugoslav patrol boat Mukos, starting the Battle of the Dalmatian Channels. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Dalmatian_Channels
2015:
A train derailed in Eckwersheim, France, while performing trials on the high-speed rail line LGV Est. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eckwersheim_derailment
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
gist: 1. (countable) The main idea or substance, or the most essential part, of a longer or more complicated matter; the crux, the heart, the pith. 2. (countable, law, dated) The essential ground for action in a lawsuit, without which there is no cause of action; the gravamen. 3. (uncountable, Nigeria) Gossip, rumour; (countable) an instance of this. 4. (transitive) To extract and present the main ideas or substance, or the most essential parts of (a document, piece of writing, etc.); to abridge, to summarize. 5. (intransitive, Nigeria) To talk idly; chat; also, to gossip. [...] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gist
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Violence is interesting. This is a great obstacle to world peace and also to more thoughtful television programming. --P. J. O'Rourke https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/P._J._O%27Rourke