Orcus: Pluto's icy twin in the distant solar system
Orcus, a distant dwarf planet, mirrors Pluto in its icy makeup, orbital dance, and moon, offering clues to the solar system's frozen frontiers.
Meet Orcus, a dwarf planet candidate in the Kuiper Belt, remarkably similar to Pluto. Discovered in 2004, Orcus is about a third of Pluto's size, yet both share a composition dominated by water ice and traces of methane. They also orbit the Sun in a synchronized 3:2 resonance with Neptune, stabilizing their distant paths.
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