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FarFarOut

Meet Faffarout – The Farthest Object in the Solar System (That We Know About)

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Farfarout

Astronomers have identified the most distant known object in our solar system — a dwarf planet nicknamed Farfarout that orbits far beyond Pluto. This remote mini-planet swings so far away from the sun that from Farfarout’s perspective Earth and Saturn look like neighbors. With an orbit that’s an average of 132 times the distance between Earth and the sun, or 132 astronomical units (AU), it beats “Farout,” the previous record holder for most-distant solar object; Farout orbits the sun at an average of 124 A.U. Farfarout’s technical name is 2018 AG37, and it will likely get an official name as … Read more

SPACE: Remember FarOut? Now There’s FarFarOut

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FarFarOut - Credit: R. Hurt (IPAC)/Caltech

The solar system has a new distance champ. Astronomers just found an object that lies 140 astronomical units (AU) from the sun. That’s 140 times the Earth-sun distance, which is about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers). In case you want some more perspective: Pluto orbits the sun at an average distance of about 39.5 AU. “This is hot off the presses,” Scott Sheppard, of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., said during a public lecture last Thursday (Feb. 21) at his home institution.  Indeed, Sheppard announced the detection during that talk; it has yet to be peer-reviewed, or even … Read more