Farout May Be The New 9th Planet In Our Solar System

    • TNN
    • Publish Date: Dec 18 2018 12:43PM
    • |
    • Updated Date: Dec 18 2018 12:43PM
Farout May Be The New 9th Planet In Our Solar System

For years now people have bemoaned Pluto's demotion from dwarf planet to just large rock. And as that debate continues, we're still not sure Pluto will become a planet once more. In the meantime we might have just discovered another ninth planet alternative.


A joint team at the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center, composed of Carnegie's Scott Sheppard, the University of Hawaii's David Tholen, and Northern Arizona University's Chad Trujillo, recently announced they'd discovered another far-flung object in our solar system. The object is orbiting more than 100 times the distance of the Earth from the Sun, making it the most-distant body we've ever discovered in our system.

Provisionally designated as 2018 VG18, it's nickname is 'Farout".

This discovery comes just three months after the same team discovered another distant object near Neptune, called "The Goblin". Preliminary reports indicate the Farout is a round, pinkish dwarf planet.

"All that we currently know about 2018 VG18 is its extreme distance from the sun, its approximate diameter, and its color," Tholen said in a statement. "Because 2018 VG18 is so distant, it orbits very slowly, likely taking more than 1,000 years to take one trip around the Sun."


Farou is 120 astronomical units (AU) from the sun. One AU is the distance between Earth and the sun, or about 150 million kilometers, putting Farout at about 18 billion kilometers from the sun. Another thing to note is that, when NASA's Voyager 2 recently left the heliopause, or the area of the Sun's influence, that was at about 120 AU.



According to telescope observations, the team estimates Farout to be about 500 km across, making it a very dwarf planet. Its pinkish color also indicates it's got a lot of ice on the surface.


Moreover, this discovery lends further credence to scientists' theory that a super-Earth named Planet Nine (aka Planet X) exists in the outer reaches of our solar system. Though we haven't seen it yet, researchers infer another gravitational influence in the are, thanks to the orbits of distant bodies like Farout.

So even if Farout never becomes a part of school curriculum when learning about the solar system, maybe it'll still lead to another large one that does.

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Comments

Jiya siwach Mata gujri public school,Gk1

Wow one more new planet

Pratham Takoliya ST XAVIERS - GHANDHINAGR

I like planets and this planet is very interesting to know

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