An Extreme Cousin for Pluto? Possible Dwarf Planet at Solar System Edge
a year ago
- #astronomy
- #dwarf-planet
- #solar-system
- Discovery of a potential dwarf planet named 2017 OF201 at the edge of the solar system.
- The object has an extreme orbit, taking approximately 25,000 years to complete, with an aphelion 1600 times Earth's orbit and a perihelion similar to Pluto's.
- 2017 OF201's orbit suggests complex gravitational interactions, possibly involving ejection to the Oort cloud and return.
- The object's diameter is estimated at 700 km, making it the second largest known in such a wide orbit.
- Discovery challenges the hypothesis of Planet X or Planet Nine due to its outlier orbit.
- Found using archival data and a computationally efficient algorithm, highlighting the power of open science.
- Suggests the presence of many more similar objects in the outer solar system, currently undetectable.
- Implications for understanding the outer solar system, indicating it's not as empty as previously thought.