Meet Gonggong - Meet the Dwarf Planets Ep. 9 - Outer Space / Astronomy Song for kids - The Nirks

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Meet Dwarf Planet Candidate Gonggong! We've met all of the Official Dwarf Planets, but what about all of the hopeful Dwarf Planet Candidates? Let's meet them too! Meet Gonggong! He's hoping for a promotion to full dwarf planet soon. Gonggong was a fan favorite pick for dwarf planet candidate! Gonggong lives way out int the Scattered Disc - a region that stretches beyond the Kuiper Belt. Before receiving his official name, Gonggong was nicknamed "Snow White." But, it turned out that he was red, so that name didn't stick. Gonggong's name was voted on. by the public. The name Gonggong is from Chinese Mythology - The destructive God of the sea. Gonggong's one moon, Xiangliu, was also named after a creature from Chinese mythology - the nine-headed serpent minister of Gonggong. Gonggong is the 5th largest Trans-Neptunian object - after Pluto, Eris, Haumea and Makemake. Gonggong is a great candidate for promotion to full dwarf planet! Learn all about this fun dwarf planet candidate in this exciting and fun learning song! And, Visit our online store for Nirks Swag! www.thenirks.c...
Lyrics:
CHORUS: I’m Gonggong with my moon Xiangliu
A dwarf planet candidate whose name was picked by you
Named after the destructive water God in Chinese Mythology
And the 9-headed serpent minister of the Chinese Deity
Discovered by Megan Schwamb, Mike Brown, and David Rabinowitz
On July 17th, 2007 they discovered I exist
Using the Samuel Oschin telescope to survey they sky
At the Palomar Observatory they saw me pass by
2007 OR 10 was the name they first called me
But Astronomers agreed to let the public vote for one of these three
The names were Gonggong, Holle or Vili
The votes were counted and Gonggong won the majority
I was nick-named Snow White because of Water Ice on my surface
But I’m actually red in color, so that name just didn’t stick
I’m one of the reddest trans-Neptunian objects
Probably because I also have methane on my surface
CHORUS
I live way out in the scattered disc
A region partially in the Kuiper Belt but stretching far beyond it
Still within the Oort cloud, filled with rocky icy objects
Neptune scattered these objects around into highly elliptical orbits
I’m in a 3:10 orbital resonance with Planet Neptune
For every 3 orbits I complete Neptune completes 10, we’re in tune!
Pluto is also in an orbital resonance with Neptune
For every 3 orbits Neptune makes Pluto makes 2
It takes 554 years until one Gonggong year is done
I have an eccentric elliptical orbit around our Sun
34 AU is my perihelion
And I get as far as 101 AU at aphelion
CHORUS
1 Gonggong day is similar to 1 Earth day
I only take about 22 hours to rotate
Compared to other candidates I have a slow rotation rate
Which is probably caused by Xiangliu and tidal forces he creates
Long ago I may have had cryovolcanism on me
Where water from my interior erupted to my surface you see
It’s possible that I may have a very thin atmosphere
But confirmation of this isn’t yet quite clear
I’m the 5th largest trans-Neptunian object known
Approximately the size of Pluto’s moon Charon
I’m still considered a dwarf planet candidate
But hope to soon be promoted to an official dwarf planet
I’m Gonggong with my moon Xiangliu
A dwarf planet candidate whose name was picked by you
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