BEIJING (Xinhua): The largest unnamed planet in the solar system has recently been named after the Chinese water god Gonggong by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
This is the first and only dwarf planet in the solar system that has a Chinese name, according to the National Astronomical Observatories under the Chinese Academy of Sciences Tuesday .
"It will not only help promote a more international understanding of Chinese culture, including ancient myths, but also attract more Chinese astronomers and stargazers to pay attention to the 'Gonggong' planet," said Gou. Previous studies have predicted the presence of large amounts of water ice and methane on its surface.The three candidates were the Chinese water god Gonggong, the Germanic Winter Goddess Holle and the God Vili from Norse mythology. They are all mythological characters related to water, ice, snow and the colour red.
The closest distance between Gonggong and the sun is 33 astronomical units , and the farthest is 101 AU. One AU is the distance from the sun to Earth, almost 150 million km.
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