Farfarout, the most distant object in our solar system, has been found by astronomers. A group of astronomers has just confirmed the existence of a new planetoid which is now the farthest known object in the solar system.
Astronomers confirmed: Farfarout is officially the most distant object in our solar system
Specifically, it is a celestial body 132 AU from the Sun, the equivalent of more than 19.7 trillion kilometers, with an elongated orbit that moves it to a maximum distance of 175 AU. For context, Pluto is 34 AU from our host star: Farfarout reaches more than five times that distance, taking a total of 1,000 years to complete its orbit around the star. It is a really interesting space discovery for sure.
First detected by researchers at the Subaru telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii in 2018, it was only today, with the help of the Gemini and Magellan telescopes, that its orbit and title of a most distant object in the Solar System could finally be verified. However, we still do not know too many details about this body, although it seems that some clues have already been detected.
Scientists believe that it is at the “low end” of the scale of a dwarf planet with a diameter of just under 400 kilometers and that it interacts with Neptune. The object may have been thrown into the outer Solar System after floating too close to Neptune at some point in the past and is expected to reach back to Neptune due to an intersecting orbit.
Thus, the team itself has already advanced its doubts about how long Farfarout will keep its title. Scott Sheppard, one of the members of the research team, assured that this planetoid is “just the tip of the iceberg” of a series of new distant objects, which he predicts will begin to be detected soon with the new wave of large telescopes and higher resolution cameras.
