Question
In 2003, Mike Brown, Chad Trujillo (“troo-HEE-yo”) and David Rabinowitz observed this astronomical body at nearly 100 AU, which was further than any Solar System object previously observed. For 10 points each:
[10h] Name this body with an orbital period of about 11,000 years. The red color of this body is similar to that of Pholus.
ANSWER: Sedna [or 90377 Sedna; accept 2003 VB12]
[10m] Sedna’s red surface coloration is likely caused by these compounds that are likened to complex organic gunk. Carl Sagan and Bishun Khare coined the name for these compounds while studying Titan’s atmosphere.
ANSWER: tholins
[10e] Sedna might be the first observed object from this hypothetical region. This region, which is far, far beyond the Kuiper (“KYE-pur”) belt, was proposed by its eponymous Dutch astronomer.
ANSWER: Oort (“ort”) cloud [accept Öpik–Oort cloud]
Data
| Team | Opponent | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago A | Vanderbilt A | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Chicago B | Cornell A | 10 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
| Claremont A | Minnesota B | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Cornell B | Northwestern A | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Georgia Tech A | Chicago C | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Georgia Tech B | Brown A | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Harvard A | Houston A | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Illinois A | Duke A | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Indiana A | Yale B | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Maryland A | Penn A | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Michigan A | Florida B | 10 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
| NYU A | Stanford A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ohio State A | WUSTL B | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Penn State A | MIT A | 10 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
| Rutgers A | Minnesota A | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Rutgers B | McGill A | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Toronto A | Columbia B | 10 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
| UC Berkeley A | Iowa State A | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| UC Berkeley B | Texas A | 10 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
| Virginia A | North Carolina A | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| WUSTL A | Purdue A | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Yale A | Columbia A | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |