Dwarf planet Eris is 'squishier' than expected.

Dwarf planet Eris is 'squishier' than expected.

A new study suggests that the dwarf planet Eris is much squishier than previously thought.

Eris is the second-most-massive dwarf planet in the solar system, after Pluto. It is located in the Kuiper Belt, a region of icy bodies beyond Neptune. Eris is about the size of Pluto, but it is about 50% farther from the Sun.

The discovery of Eris in 2005 prompted the debate that ultimately reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet.

Scientists have been studying Eris for years, but they have not been able to get a close look at it. This is because Eris is so distant from Earth that it shows up as a single pixel in telescopes.

In order to reconstruct the shape of Eris, scientists have to watch the planet pass in front of stars. This is called an occultation.

In 2010, scientists used the Keck Observatory in Hawaii to watch Eris occult a star. The data from this occultation allowed scientists to create a detailed model of Eris's shape.

The new study, which was published in the journal Science Advances, used this model to study the internal structure of Eris.

The scientists found that Eris has a rocky core surrounded by a layer of ice. This outer shell of ice is likely convecting, unlike the conducting shell of Pluto.

The convection of Eris's ice shell is what makes it so squishy. The ice is constantly flowing and moving, which makes the planet less rigid than Pluto.

The scientists were surprised by how squishy Eris is. They had thought that Eris would be more like Pluto, which is a very rigid object.

The findings of the new study could have implications for our understanding of other dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt.

Here are some of the key findings of the study:

• Eris is much squishier than previously thought.
• Eris has a rocky core surrounded by a layer of ice.
• The outer shell of ice is likely convecting.
• The convection of Eris's ice shell is what makes it so squishy.
• The study was led by Francis Nimmo, a professor of planetary sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

"The main, unexpected result of Nimmo and Brown's model is that Eris is surprisingly dissipative, or 'squishy,'" said Nimmo.

"That happens because the big planet gets spun down by the tides that the little moon raises on it," explained Nimmo.

The findings of the study have been met with excitement from the scientific community.

"This is a really exciting discovery," said Alan Stern, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute. "It's going to force us to rethink our understanding of dwarf planets."

The study is a reminder that there is still much we don't know about the solar system. With continued study, we may one day be able to understand the secrets of dwarf planets like Eris.