Astronomers discovered what?
During a search for Planet,
astronomers discovered a new object at the edge of our solar system, far beyond
Pluto.
Discovery of Astronomer
The newly-found object, called
2015 TG387, was announced by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor
Planet Center on Oct. 1, 2018. The discovery was made by the
University of Hawaiʻi
Institute for Astronomy’s David Tholen, Carnegie Institution for Sciences’
Scott Sheppard, and Northern Arizona University’s Chad Trujillo.
The new planet
The object was discovered about
80 astronomical units (AU) from the sun. One AU is the distance between the
Earth and Sun. Researchers explain, for context, Pluto’s distance is around 34
AU, so 2015 TG387 is about two-and-a-half times further away from the sun than
Pluto is right now.
Solar system planets
“We think there could be
thousands of small bodies like 2015 TG387 out on the solar system’s fringes,
but their distance makes finding them very difficult,” Tholen said. “Currently
we would only detect 2015 TG387 when it is near its closest approach to the
sun. For some 99% of its 40,000-year orbit, it would be too faint to see, even
with today’s largest telescopes.”
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