The most distant known object in the solar system is now confirmed. This is FarFarOut, a large cosmic rock found in 2018 at around 132 astronomical units from the Sun.
Pluto has an average orbital distance of about 39 AU (Astronomical Unit – AU. Each AU is 149.6 million km), so FarFarOut is actually very far away. It was temporarily named 2018 AG37, while the proper name following guidelines from the International Astronomical Union is still pending. This object is believed to help us better understand the planets outside the solar system.
This orbit, however, is not a circle around the Sun, but a truly asymmetric oval. After careful observation, scientists calculated its trajectory. FarFarOut flies up to 175 astronomical units and nearly 27 astronomical units in Neptune’s orbit. This object is believed to help us better understand the planets outside the solar system.
“FarFarOut may have been thrown out of the solar system by being too close to Neptune in the distant past,” said astronomer Chad Trujillo of the University of Northern Arizona. In the future because their orbits still cross. “
Previously, the object’s nickname stems from the earlier discovery of a remote object in 2018.
FarFarOut is still very mysterious. Because it is so far away, extremely weak, and has only been seen nine times in two years. The team deduced its size based on the brightness.
Astronomers are also not entirely sure of its orbital synchronization. They think FarFarOut may only be 800 years old (year 248 of Pluto), but it could be taking more than twice that time, or could evolve at a much faster rate.
“FarFarOut takes a millennium to circle the Sun once. Therefore, it moves very slowly across the sky, requiring years of observations to be able to accurately determine its orbit,” the astronomer said. .
Sheppard, Tholen, and Trujillo work from the solar system in hopes of gaining a glimpse of the ninth planet, a hypothetical object believed to be responsible for the strange movement of clusters of outer objects.
There are other explanations for these orbits, but the team has discovered objects that we don’t yet know about, including Farout and FarFarOut. There is also a dwarf planet dubbed The Goblin, discovered at a distance of 80 astronomical units.
There’s even an object, dubbed 2014 FE72, whose orbit takes it past 3,000 astronomical units, the only known object of its type to orbit entirely outside of Neptune. It is now much closer after approaching the Sun in 1965.
Researchers have discovered 12 previously unknown moons orbiting Jupiter and 20 moons orbiting Saturn.
“The FarFarOut discovery demonstrates an increasing possibility of mapping beyond the solar system and looking further and further towards the edge of our solar system,” Sheppard says. In recent years, large size telescopic digital cameras have been possible such as FarFarOut, although some of these distant objects are as large as the size of the planets are dwarf, but they are weak because they are so far from the Sun. . FarFarOut is just the tip of the iceberg for Far Solar System objects.
