SoylentNews

takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

'Farfarout'! Solar system's most distant planetoid confirmed [eurekalert.org]

A team, including an astronomer from the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy (IfA), have confirmed a planetoid that is almost four times farther from the Sun than Pluto, making it the most distant object ever observed in our solar system. The planetoid, nicknamed "Farfarout," was first detected in 2018, and the team has now collected enough observations to pin down the orbit. The Minor Planet Center has now given it the official designation of 2018 AG37.

[...] Farfarout's current distance from the Sun is 132 astronomical units (au); 1 au is the distance between the Earth and Sun. For comparison, Pluto is only 34 au from the Sun. The newly discovered object has a very elongated orbit that takes it out to 175 au at its most distant, and inside the orbit of Neptune, to around 27 au, when it is closest to the Sun.

[...] Farfarout is very faint, and based on its brightness and distance from the Sun, the team estimates its size to be about 400 km across, putting it on the low end of being a dwarf planet, assuming it is an ice-rich object.

2018 AG₃₇ [wikipedia.org].

List of Solar System objects most distant from the Sun [wikipedia.org].

Previously: "Farout": Most Distant Known Solar System Object Spotted, at 120 AU [soylentnews.org]
FarFarOut: A Solar System Object at Around 140 AU [soylentnews.org]

Original Submission