Distant world tops Pluto for size

[Mike]

An icy, rocky world reported last year to be orbiting the Sun in the distant reaches of the Solar System really is bigger than Pluto, scientists say.

New observations of the object, which goes by the designation 2003 UB313, show it to have a diameter of some 3,000km - about 700km more than Pluto.

The measurement was undertaken by a German team using a telescope in Spain, and is published in the journal Nature.

It is likely to bolster claims for the body to be given planet status.

For the full story - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4667100.stm