News Flash! Solar System Super Sized!

Eric Berger (of the Houston Chronicle) has an excellent summary of the latest announcement by the IAU: Your new solar system: 12 planets, maybe even 24.

Meet the three new dwarf planets:

2003 UB313 is also called Xena.

Here are the other candidates:

When did we get Orcus? That’s too funny.

And here’s the whole family:

(Pictures courtesy of The International Astronomical Union/Martin Kornmesser.)