A team of astronomers has confirmed the orbit of a distant asteroid at the farthest corners of our solar system – aptly nicknamed ‘Farfarout’.
The small planet, officially named 2018 AG37, is almost four times farther from the sun than Pluto. It is the farthest asteroid ever detected in our solar system, researchers announced this week.
Farfarout was first tracked down in 2018 and beat the previous record holder, “Farout”. The team, responsible for both discoveries, has an ongoing survey to map the map outer solar system.
After discovering astronomers at the Subary 8-meter telescope atop Maunakea in Hawaii, they used the Gemini North and Mageallan telescopes to track its orbit over the past few years. In a few years, when the track is further tracked, Farfarout will get an official name.
“The discovery of Farfarout shows our increasing ability to map the outer solar system and observe it further and further to the edge of our solar system,” said Scott S. Sheppard, discovery team member. “Only with the progress in the last few years of large digital cameras on very large telescopes, is it possible to detect objects such as Farfarout in an efficient way.”
Farfarout’s average distance from the sun is 132 astronomical units, which means that it is 132 times farther from the sun than the earth is. By comparison, Pluto is only 39 au from the sun.
NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. da Silva
Farfarout’s journey around the sun lasts about 1,000 years. The planetoid, which is very faint, is estimated at about 250 miles on the small side of dwarf planet like Pluto.
“A single orbit of Farfarout around the sun takes a millennium,” said David Tholen, a member of the discovery team. “Because of this long orbit, it moves very slowly through the air, requiring several years of observation to accurately determine its trajectory.”
Interactions with Neptune are responsible for the large, elongated orbit of the asteroid. Its orbit reaches 175 au at its farthest point and about 27 au, within the orbit of Neptune, it is the closest to the sun.
The effects of Neptune on the orbit of Farfarout also mean that the asteroid is unlikely to contribute to scientists’ attempts to find a mysterious unknown planet on the outskirts of the solar system.
“Farfarout’s orbital dynamics can help us understand how Neptune formed and evolved, as Farfarout was probably thrown into the outer solar system by getting too close to Neptune in the distant past,” said Chad Trujillo, member of the discovery team said. “Farfarout will probably deal strongly with Neptune again, as their orbits are still crossing.”
Scientists believe they are ultimately the hypothetical “Planet Nine. “
“Farfarout is just the tip of the iceberg of solar system objects in the solar system that are very far away,” Sheppard said.