A team of astronomers has confirmed the orbit of a distant planetoid in the farthest reaches of our solar system – aptly nicknamed “Farfarout”.
The minor planet, officially designated 2018 AG37, is almost four times farther from the Sun than Pluto. It is the farthest planetoid ever detected in our solar system, researchers announced this week.
Farfarout was first detected in 2018, defeating the previous record holder, “Farout”. The team, responsible for both discoveries, has an ongoing mapping survey the outer solar system.
After being discovered at the 8-meter Subary Telescope on the top of Maunakea in Hawaii, astronomers have used the Northern Gemini and Mageallan telescopes to track its orbit in recent years. In a few years, when its orbit will be further pursued, Farfarout will receive an official name.
“The Farfarout discovery shows our growing ability to map the outer solar system and look farther and farther to the edges of our solar system,” said Scott S. Sheppard, a member of the discovery team. “Only with the progress made in recent years in large digital cameras on very large telescopes has it been possible to effectively detect very distant objects such as Farfarout.”
The average distance of the Farfarout from the sun is 132 astronomical units, which means that it is 132 times farther from the Sun than the Earth. For comparison, Pluto is only 39 feet from the sun.
NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. da Silva
Farfarout’s journey around the sun takes about 1,000 years. The planetoid, which is very weak, is estimated to be about 250 miles wide at the small end of the planet. dwarf planets like Pluto.
“A single Farfarout orbit around the Sun lasts a millennium,” said David Tholen, a member of the discovery team. “Because of this long orbital, it moves very slowly in the sky, requiring several years of observations to accurately determine its trajectory.”
Interactions with Neptune are responsible for the planet’s large, elongated orbit. Its orbit reaches 175 u at its furthest and about 27 have, in Neptune’s orbit, the closest to the sun.
The effects of Neptune on Farfarout’s orbit also mean that the planetoid probably cannot contribute to scientists’ efforts to find a mysterious unknown planet hiding on the periphery of the solar system.
“Farfarout’s orbital dynamics can help us understand how Neptune formed and evolved, because Farfarout was probably thrown into the outer solar system by being too close to Neptune in the distant past,” said team member Chad Trujillo. “Farfarout will interact strongly with Neptune again as their orbits continue to intersect.”
Scientists believe they will eventually find the hypothetical “New Planet. “
“Farfarout is just the tip of the iceberg of solar system objects in the far solar system,” Sheppard said.