An outside team of astronomers has discovered the uttermost object ever detected in the Solar System . Nicknamed “ Farout ” , it ’s a little pear-shaped aim with a pinkish hue located 17.95 billion kilometers ( 11.15 billion mile ) from the Sun . The color is common in ice - fat object .
Its official designation is 2018 VG18 and it is 500 klick ( 310 miles ) in diam . It ’s the first object discovered further than 100 astronomical unit ( AU ) from our star , with 1 AU being the Earth - Sun distance . Farout is at a distance of 120 AU , importantly further out than dwarf planet Eris , which is at 96 AU . Pluto , by comparison , is at 34 AU .
“ All that we presently know about 2018 VG18 is its extreme distance from the Sun , its approximate diam , and its color , ” Colorado - discoverer David Tholen , from the University of Hawaii , said in astatement . “ Because 2018 VG18 is so remote , it orbits very slowly , likely taking more than 1,000 years to take one trip-up around the Sun . ”
Farout impart to the intriguing crime syndicate of rum objects so far pick up beyond the orbit of Pluto . The orbits of these trans - Neptunian target ( TNOs ) seem to be determine by the gravity of a massive planet so researchers have put forward the idea thatPlanet 9exists over 200 AU from the Sun . So far the search has n’t uncovered definitive proof , but TNOs are help astronomers read what ’s go on at the edge of the Solar System .
“ 2018 VG18 is much more distant and slower moving than any other observed Solar System target , so it will take a few years to in full determine its arena , ” added co - discoverer Scott Sheppard , from the Carnegie Institution for Science . “ But it was found in a similar location on the sky to the other known uttermost Solar System objects , suggest it might have the same type of orbit that most of them do . The orbital similarity shown by many of the known small , remote Solar System bodies was the catalyst for our original assertion that there is a remote , massive planet at several hundred AU shepherding these smaller object . ”
While we are only just starting to empathize the further rims of the Solar System , discoveries like this show that there are still many worlds out there left to find .
