Strange Dwarf Planet Has Red Spot

There are many planets in our Solar System some gigantic and some tiny. The tiny planets are called Dwarf planets. One of these dwarf planets is called Haumea. Haumea was discovered in 2004.It orbits the Sun beyond Neptune in an area called Kuiper belt. Haumea, unlike many planets, is shaped like a football. It is the fourth largest of all eight dwarf planets. One day on Haumea equals 3.9 hours on Earth. Furthermore, there is a bright red spot on Haumea that was getting great amounts of attention by the scientists.

"Our very first measurements of Haumea already told us there was a spot on the surface, but it was only when we got the infrared data that we were able to begin to understand what the spot might be," Lacerda said

What exactly is the spot made of and how did it get there? Well that the scientists don't know. They do have have a hypothesis, though. They think that the spot is richer in minerals and organic compounds than the surrounding icy surface, so to prove the hypothesis right, or wrong, the scientists are going to examine the dwarf planet very carefully in 2010 by using the Very Large Telescope.

I feel very proud that the scientists are discovering new things in space, are trying to examine them, and finding more data.For example, finding the strange red spot on the strange dwarf planet. Also, I feel that scientists are doing their best to find more data to help understand space better and for people who are interested in space, for example, me.

Article by: SPACE.com Staff

Haumea with the strange red spot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haumea_(dwarf_planet))
http://www.livescience.com/space/090915-Haumea-dark-spot.html
http://www.centauri-dreams.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/haumea_1.png