Answered

Select the correct text in the passage.
An astronomer has discovered an object, and she wants to conduct research on it. She has written a description of the
object. Which piece of evidence in the description disqualifies the newly discovered object from being a planet?
The object orbits a red dwarf star. The object appears to have no moons of its own. Current images show that it is
spherical in shape and has a mass about one-tenth that of Earth. It has a fast orbital period, orbiting its star
every
77 Earth days. The object lies in a region with millions of asteroids, colliding with them almost constantly.



Answer :

djben1424

The piece of evidence in the description that disqualifies the newly discovered object from being a planet is:

The object lies in a region with millions of asteroids, colliding with them almost constantly.

This statement suggests that the object is in an area with numerous other celestial bodies, indicating that it has not cleared its orbit, a key characteristic required for a celestial body to be classified as a planet according to the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) definition. This factor points toward the object being more likely to be a dwarf planet or an asteroid rather than a planet.

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