Discover the Cosmos: Top 13 Fun Facts About Eris That Will Astound You

1. Meme-Worthy Moment: Eris and Pluto's Drama

Once upon a meme-worthy moment in 2005, when Pluto's planetary status had a meltdown: Eris, the 2,326 km diameter drama queen of our Solar System's scattered disk, emerged as the largest and sassiest dwarf planet that has yet to roll out the red carpet for a spacecraft, causing an astronomical kerfuffle that left poor Pluto reclassified and Ceres dragged into the "dwarf planet" clique as well.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

2. Chaos-Causing Eris: Dwarf Planet Diva

In a ruckus worthy of her namesake's legacy, Eris, the goddess of discord and strife, threw the scientific community into chaos and booted Pluto out of the elite planetary club: Discovered in 2005, Eris is in fact a colossal dwarf planet in our solar system that sparked heated debates, leading the International Astronomical Union to rethink the definitions, and eventually classify both Eris and Pluto as "dwarf planets." Now reigning supreme as the most massive dwarf planet, Eris has stirred up our astronomical knowledge and expanded our understanding of the farthest reaches of our celestial neighborhood.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

Discover the secret behind Pluto's heart-shaped feature, where a peculiar thermostat of frozen nitrogen creates intense winds and shapes its surface in mesmerizing patterns!

=> Fun Facts about Pluto

3. Goth Icon of the Galaxy: Mysterious Eris

Eris: the cosmic underdog who overtook Pluto in the solar system's popularity contest by being colder, darker, and way more mysterious – a true goth icon of the galaxy: Discovered in 2005 and considered a dwarf planet, Eris is chilling at nearly three times the distance from the Sun as Pluto, flaunting an impressive diameter of about 1,450 to 1,490 miles, which makes it possibly larger than its rival, Pluto. So, buckle up, space enthusiasts, because Eris is here to keep you entertained with its fabulously distant and enigmatic aura!
Source => astronomy.com

4. Cosmic Ice Cream: Eris's Interstellar Ingredients

If Eris were an ice cream flavor, it'd be a cosmic blend of methane-mint, nitrogen-nut, and water-ice wonder, topped with a generous sprinkle of ice tholin truffles: This colossal dwarf planet features a surface made from a sublime mixture of methane, nitrogen, water ices, and ice tholin, with icy grains that range in size from sub-millimeter to a few tens of millimeters, truly a scoop full of interstellar delights!
Source => ui.adsabs.harvard.edu

5. Goldilocks Methane Ice: Eris's Perfect Temperature

Eris is the Goldilocks of methane ice - not too cold, not too hot, just right: This distant, dwarf-planet dweller sports methane ice in its atmosphere thanks to its wacky, eccentric orbit causing temperature fluctuations that tease apart its chemical concoction.
Source => nineplanets.org

6. Planetary Reality Show: Eris and Pluto's Rivalry

Like a cosmic reality show filled with planetary drama and ego clashes: Eris, the tiny celestial diva, stirred up some serious astronomical gossip in 2006, ultimately leading to Pluto's demotion to "dwarf planet" and claiming the title of the largest known dwarf planet in the solar system.
Source => caltech.edu

7. Eris Detox: Gentle Gravitational Pull

Feeling weighed down by life? Maybe it's time for an Eris detox: If you set foot on this distant dwarf planet, gravity would still have you in its clutches, but in a gentler, more flattering way - so much so that Eris boasts the strongest gravitational pull out of all its fellow petite planetary peers.
Source => nineplanets.org

8. Dysfunctional Vacation: Eris's Eccentric Orbit

While Eris might put the "dys" in "dysfunctional family vacation" with its extreme and eccentric trips around the solar system, it's actually quite the devoted parent to its little moon, Dysnomia: Eris takes a whopping 559.07 Earth years to complete an orbit, reaching as far as 67.864 astronomical units from the Sun, while cuddling closer at a periapsis of 38.271 AU – with Dysnomia dutifully tagging along, never farther than a cosmic hop, skip, and jump away.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

9. Celestial Snowball: Eris's Cosmic Freeze Tag

Eris: the celestial snowball hurling through the cosmos, playing a cosmic game of freeze tag! Seriously though: Eris orbits the Sun every 558 Earth years, reaching its furthest point (about 97.65 AU away) before coming winterly close to our icy neighbor, Pluto. As it nears us for some solar warmth in about 247 years, its once-frozen surface will sublimate back into a tenuous atmosphere.
Source => nineplanets.org

10. Ice Queen Eris: Melting Surface and Mischief

Eris, the ultimate celestial ice queen, just wants to be left alone with her subzero mood swings and a penchant for mischief: Discovered in 2005, this dwarf planet named after the Greek goddess of strife and discord influenced the redefinition of planets in our solar system, takes a whopping 580 years to orbit the sun, and sports a methane ice surface that will melt in about 290 years to form a fresh new atmosphere that comes and goes like an interstellar fashion trend.
Source => johncarlosbaez.wordpress.com

11. Shady Moon: Dysnomia's Low Albedo

Talk about a shady moon: Dysnomia, Eris's sidekick up there in the cosmos, sports an albedo so low it makes black cats jealous. This lunar rebel reflects a measly 0.04+0.02−0.01 of sunlight, likely from hanging out with carbon-rich materials that darken its surface more than a goth phase ever could.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

12. Love Child: Rock Concert and an Ice-Skating Rink

The secret love child of a rock concert and an ice-skating rink, Eris is the sneaky sibling of Pluto that just edged them out in a celestial showdown: Discovered on the edge of the solar system in the Kuiper belt, Eris is a dwarf planet made primarily of rock and ice, boasting a slightly more massive bulk than Pluto, but not quite taking the title of the most massive dwarf planet.
Source => caltech.edu

13. Exclusive Nightclub: Eris's VIP Telescope List

If Eris were an exclusive nightclub, only the fanciest telescopes would be on the guest list: This elusive dwarf planet, the largest one in our solar system, is situated about 6.4 billion kilometers from Earth, making it visible only through telescopes with a diameter of at least 10 inches. So, only the crème de la crème of professional and amateur star-gazers have the privilege of spotting Eris as a tiny speck of light in the night sky.
Source => telescopicwatch.com