Dwarf Planet

Say hello to little V774104, a new dwarf planet astronomers believe may be the most distant object in our solar system.

Another dwarf planet has been discovered at the edge of our solar system, and it currently holds the title for the most distant object from our Sun.

The object, initially designated V774104, is about three times as far from the Sun as Pluto and approximately a third of Pluto’s size. Nothing is yet known about its orbit, since the dwarf planet was discovered only a few weeks ago using Japan’s eight-meter Subaru Telescope in Hawaii. At least a year of observation will be needed to gather enough information to classify the dwarf planet and its orbit, says Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institute for Science.

Sheppard, one of the astronomers who discovered the new planet, announced the discovery at the 47th Annual Meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society meeting last week.

The former furthest-from-the-sun record holder was Eris, another dwarf planet which orbits the Sun 96 astronomical units away – that is, 96 times the distance between the Sun and Earth. The new V774104 is 103 astronomical units away. Astronomers believe there may be dozens of dwarf planets in our solar system. 

“The discovery of V774104 is more proof that the solar system is bigger than we thought,” said Joseph Burns, professor of engineering and astronomy at Cornell University.

Our solar system consists of much more than eight planets. The inner four rocky planets –  Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars – are separated from the outer gaseous planets by an asteroid belt. Pluto was recently reclassified as a dwarf planet, but it is by no means the furthest planet from the Sun. Pluto orbits in what is known as the Kuiper Belt, which consists of other dwarf planets and numerous smaller objects. Even father than that is the Oort Cloud, a sphere that is hypothesized to envelop our solar system and is thought to be where comets originate.

Astronomers are optimistic that this discovery will lead to a better understanding of the outer reaches of our solar system.