Gonggong (formally 225088 Gonggong) is a dwarf planet, a member of the scattered disc beyond Neptune. It has a highly eccentric and inclined orbit during which it ranges from 34–101 astronomical units from the Sun. As of 2019, its distance from the Sun is 88 AU, and it is the sixth-farthest known Solar System object. Gonggong is in a 3:10 orbital resonance with Neptune, in which it completes three orbits around the Sun for every ten orbits completed by Neptune. Gonggong was discovered in July 2007 by American astronomers Megan Schwamb, Michael Brown, and David Rabinowitz at the Palomar Observatory, and the discovery was announced in January 2009.

At approximately 1,230 km (760 mi) in diameter, Gonggong is the size of Pluto's moon Charon, and is the fifth-largest known trans-Neptunian object. It may be sufficiently massive to be plastic under its own gravity and therefore a dwarf planet. Gonggong's large mass makes retention of a tenuous atmosphere of methane just possible, though such an atmosphere would slowly escape into space. The object is named after Gònggōng, a Chinese water god responsible for chaos, floods and the tilt of the Earth. The name was chosen by its discoverers in 2019, when they hosted an online poll for the general public to help choose a name for the object, and the name Gonggong won.

Gonggong is red, likely due to the presence of organic compounds called tholins on its surface. Water ice is also present on its surface, which hints at a brief period of cryovolcanic activity in the distant past. With a rotation period around 22 hours, Gonggong rotates slowly compared to other trans-Neptunian objects, which typically have periods less than 12 hours. The slow rotation of Gonggong may have been caused by tidal forces from its natural satellite, named Xiangliu.

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  • SorosFootSoldier [he/him, they/them]
    ·
    3 years ago

    :a-little-trolling: Eiffel 65, Eiffel 65, oh how we love them! crowd cheering So many hits! "Blue", "Move Your Body", and of course, the anthem of Playstation gamers all over the world, "My Console". crowd going wild Oh I see we have a lot of Sony fans here tonight! That's okay, you're more than welcome, that's not going to offend me, a sega guy myself! crowd laughing But we got the democrats crowd booing Oh I know, I know! We got the democrats trying to say that "Blue" was a song about a color and not about depression crowd major boos and you've got sleepy Joe himself telling that big lie. The guy never even listened to the song! So, first things first, my administration is going to write up plans to introduce in our Patriot Education act, that all school children be taught the true meaning of that song. crowd cheering again We're doing it! We're gonna make sure those kids grow up right!!