Astronomers were looking for the giant ‘Planet X’ – instead they found the pink dwarf planet ‘Farout’, the most distant object in our solar system

The pink cosmic body, nicknamed after its discoverer’s exclamation, orbits the Sun at 17.6 billion km, a distance 120 times greater than Earth’s orbit

Scientists say the strange dwarf planet is about 500km in diameter

Reading Time:1 minute

This image provided by the Carnegie Institution for Science shows an artist's concept of a dwarf planet that astronomers say is the farthest known object in our solar system, which they have nicknamed ‘Farout’. Graphic: Roberto Molar Candanosa / Carnegie Institution for Science via AP

Published: 6:30am, 18 Dec 2018Updated: 7:57am, 18 Dec 2018

Astronomers have spotted the farthest known object in our solar system – and they’ve nicknamed the pink cosmic body “Farout.”

The International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Centre announced the discovery Monday.

Solar System distances to scale showing the newly discovered dwarf planet 2018 VG18 “Farout” compared to other known Solar System objects. Graphic: Roberto Molar Candanosa/Scott S. Sheppard/Carnegie Institution for Science.

“Farout” is about 120 astronomical units away – that’s 120 times the distance between Earth and the sun, or 17.6 billion km. The previous record-holder was the dwarf planet Eris at 96 astronomical units. Pluto, by comparison, is 34 astronomical units away.

The Carnegie Institution’s Scott Sheppard said the object is so far away and moving so slowly it will take a few years to determine its orbit. At that distance, it could take more than 1,000 years to orbit the sun.

Sheppard and his team spied the dwarf planet in November using a telescope in Hawaii. Their finding was confirmed by a telescope in Chile.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x