The most distant Solar System object, Farout, has lost its crown after just two years. As Inverse reports, astronomers have confirmed that the planetoid Farfarout is now the farthest known Solar System object. It’s currently 132AU, or about 12.3 billion miles from the Sun (Farout is ‘just’ 120AU away), and its elongated orbit will take it 175AU away. For context, Pluto is 34AU from our host star — Farfarout reaches over five times that distance, and takes about 1,000 years to complete an orbit.
Tag Archives: KUIPER BELT
Extreme Dwarf Planet FarFarOut Could Be the Most Distant Known Object in the Solar System
Just months after discovering FarOut, the most distant known object in the Solar System, the same team of astronomers has detected the faint—but not yet confirmed—glimmerings of an object even farther away. Dubbed FarFarOut, the extreme dwarf planet is 13 billion miles away—a distance so far it takes nearly 20 hours for the Sun’s rays to reach it. Continue reading Extreme Dwarf Planet FarFarOut Could Be the Most Distant Known Object in the Solar System
New Horizons Just Set a Record for Taking the Furthest Photographs Away From Earth
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is now 3.79 billion miles from Earth, or around 41 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun, and far beyond the orbit of Neptune. Using its Long Range Reconnaissance Imager, it snapped these images of Kuiper Belt Objects 2012 HZ84 (left) and 2012 HE85 (right)—and they’re the furthest images ever taken away from Earth.
Continue reading New Horizons Just Set a Record for Taking the Furthest Photographs Away From Earth
Expect To See New Data From the Kuiper Belt in 2019
In 2015, NASA’s New Horizons mission made history when it captured the first detailed images of Pluto at the far edges of our solar system. Now, it’s set to go even further after the NASA mission received an official green light to extend its mission into 2019.
Continue reading Expect To See New Data From the Kuiper Belt in 2019
BEYOND PLUTO: MEET THE NEW HORIZONS SPACECRAFT’S NEXT TARGET
The Pluto flyby was arguably one of 2015’s top scientific achievements, maybe even one of the most memorable moments in the last decade. We now know what our ex-ninth planet looks like, and it’s spectacular. Pluto turned out to have some surprising features like glaciers, nitrogen lakes, ice volcanoes, and the list is growing. The New Horizons mission to Pluto has surpassed everyone’s expectations, and the good news is, the team has no plans of stopping yet. This summer, they’re hoping to win an extended mission to explore another strange new world.
Continue reading BEYOND PLUTO: MEET THE NEW HORIZONS SPACECRAFT’S NEXT TARGET
BEYOND PLUTO: MEET THE NEW HORIZONS SPACECRAFT’S NEXT TARGET
The Pluto flyby was arguably one of 2015’s top scientific achievements, maybe even one of the most memorable moments in the last decade. We now know what our ex-ninth planet looks like, and it’s spectacular. Pluto turned out to have some surprising features like glaciers, nitrogen lakes, ice volcanoes, and the list is growing. The New Horizons mission to Pluto has surpassed everyone’s expectations, and the good news is, the team has no plans of stopping yet. This summer, they’re hoping to win an extended mission to explore another strange new world.
Continue reading BEYOND PLUTO: MEET THE NEW HORIZONS SPACECRAFT’S NEXT TARGET
Behold the Closest Ever Image of a Kuiper Belt Object
Whoosh! Did you see that? It may look a bit scrappy, but the tiny white projectile at the center of the animation below—officially called 1994 JR1— is a cosmic time capsule, brought to you by a piano-sized spacecraft over 3 billion miles away. You’re looking at the closest picture yet of a Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) by a factor of at least 15.
Continue reading Behold the Closest Ever Image of a Kuiper Belt Object
The Fat Cat Collective 