Farout

is a distant trans-Neptunian object (TNO) that was discovered when it was away from the Sun, more than three times the average distance between the Sun and Pluto. It was discovered on 10 November 2018 by Scott Sheppard, David Tholen, and Chad Trujillo during their search for TNOs whose orbits might be gravitationally influenced by the hypothetical Planet Nine. They announced the discovery of on 17 December 2018 and nicknamed the object "Farout" to emphasize its distance from the Sun.

is the second-most distant natural object ever observed in the Solar System, after (132 AU), which was also discovered by Sheppard's team in January 2018. , is away from the Sun and is moving farther away until it reaches aphelion in 2063. While is one of the most distant Solar System objects known, its orbit is nowhere near being the most distant since its average orbital distance from the Sun is 82 AU, which places it in the scattered disk and the 2:9 orbital resonance with Neptune. Little is known about 's physical properties other than its pinkish color, which indicates an ice-rich surface.

Discovery

was discovered by astronomers Scott Sheppard, David Tholen, and Chad Trujillo at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii on 10 November 2018. The discovery formed part of their search for distant trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) with orbits that may be gravitationally perturbed by the hypothesized Planet Nine. The search team had been involved in the discoveries of several other distant TNOs, including the sednoids and 541132 Leleākūhonua. was first identified as a faint object slowly moving in two images taken with the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope on the night of 10 November 2018. At the time of discovery, was located in the constellation Taurus, at a very faint apparent magnitude of 24.6, approaching the lowest detectable magnitude limit for most telescopes.

's low on-sky motion and brightness indicated that it is very distant, which prompted additional follow-up observations to constrain its orbit and distance. The object was reobserved in December 2018 by Sheppard at the Las Campanas Observatory, with observation times spanning ten days. However, its orbit remained with a significant uncertainty due to its short observation arc. Nonetheless, the discovery of along with a preliminary orbit solution was formally announced in a Minor Planet Electronic Circular issued by the Minor Planet Center on 17 December 2018.

Since the discovery announcement, has been periodically observed by Sheppard at the Las Campanas and Mauna Kea observatories. Additional observations were also made at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in November 2019 and January 2020. , has been observed for over five oppositions, with an observation arc of 16 years (5,900 days). Several precovery observations of have been identified in images taken by the Cerro Tololo Observatory's Dark Energy Camera on 11 March 2015 and 16 January 2017, as well as images taken by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope and Subaru Telescope in November 2003 and September 2005, respectively.

Nomenclature

The discoverers gave the nickname "Farout" for its distant location from the Sun, and particularly because it was the farthest known TNO observed at the time. On the same day, the object was formally given the provisional designation by the Minor Planet Center. The provisional designation indicates the object's discovery date, with the first letter representing the first half of November and the succeeding letter and numbers indicating that it is the 457th object discovered during that half-month. The object has not yet been assigned an official minor planet number by the Minor Planet Center due to its short observation arc and orbital uncertainty. is expected to receive a minor planet number once it has been observed for over at least four oppositions, which would take several years. Once it receives a minor planet number, the object will be eligible for naming by its discoverers.

Orbit and classification

's average orbital distance from the Sun is approximately 82 AU and it takes approximately 737 years to complete one orbit. Simulations of 's orbit by Marc Buie show that is in a 2:9 orbital resonance with Neptune— orbits exactly twice for every nine orbits completed by Neptune. With an orbital eccentricity of about 0.53, it follows a highly elongated orbit, varying in distance from 38 AU at perihelion to 125 AU at aphelion. Its orbit is inclined to the ecliptic plane by about 24 degrees, with its aphelion oriented below the ecliptic. At perihelion, approaches close to Neptune's orbit without crossing it, having a minimum orbit intersection distance of approximately 8 AU. Because approaches Neptune at close proximity, its orbit has likely been perturbed and scattered by Neptune; thus, it falls into the category of scattered-disc objects. last passed perihelion in the late 17th century.

, is the second-most distant observed Solar System object from the Sun and is the first object discovered while beyond 100 astronomical units (AU), overtaking the dwarf planet (96 AU) in observed distance. 's distance from the Sun is , more than three times the average distance between the Sun and Pluto (39.5 AU). For comparison, the ''Voyager 2'' and ''Voyager 1'' space probes were approximately 120 AU and 144 AU from the Sun at the time of 's discovery, respectively. At its current distance, is thought to be close to the heliopause, the boundary where the Sun's solar wind is stopped by the interstellar medium at around 120 AU. The new orbit determination indicates that this object is currently very close to aphelion which it should reach in mid-2063, and that it is a member of the scattered disc.

While is one of the most distant objects observed, it does not have the largest orbital semi-major axis. For comparison, the semi-major axis of the planetoid 90377 Sedna is about 500 AU. In an extreme case, the scattered-disc object has a semi-major axis around 1,400 AU, though its distance from the Sun is about 64 AU, approximately half 's distance from the Sun in that year.

At the time of discovery on 10 November 2018, 's distance from the Sun was 123.4 AU, and has since moved to 123.6 AU from the Sun . As it is approaching aphelion, is receding from the Sun at a rate of 0.06 AU per year, or . was the farthest TNO known until February 2019, when (nicknamed "FarFarOut") was discovered at about 132 AU by Sheppard's team. While and are among the farthest Solar System objects observable, some historical near-parabolic comets are much further from the Sun. For example, Caesar's Comet (C/-43 K1) is over 800 AU from the Sun while Comet Donati (C/1858 L1) is over 145 AU from the Sun .

Physical characteristics

The size of is unmeasured, though it is likely large enough to be a possible dwarf planet, based on its intrinsic brightness or absolute magnitude. Based on its apparent brightness and large distance, 's absolute magnitude is estimated to be in the range of 3.4–4.5. According to the Minor Planet Center, it is the ninth intrinsically brightest scattered-disc object.

The albedo (reflectivity) of has not been measured nor constrained, thus its diameter could not be calculated with certainty. Assuming that the albedo of is within the range of 0.10–0.25, its diameter should be around . This size range is considered to be large enough such that the body can collapse into a spheroidal shape, and thus be a dwarf planet. Astronomer Michael Brown considers to be highly likely a dwarf planet, based on his size estimate of calculated from an albedo of 0.12 and an absolute magnitude of 3.9. Unless the composition of is predominantly rocky, Brown considers it very likely that has attained a spheroidal shape through self-gravity. Astronomer Gonzalo Tancredi estimates that the minimum diameters for a body to undergo hydrostatic equilibrium are around and , for predominantly icy and rocky compositions, respectively. If the composition of is similar to the former case, the object would be considered a dwarf planet under Tancredi's criterion.

Observations of with the Magellan-Baade telescope show that the object is pinkish in color. The pinkish color of is generally attributed to the presence of ice on its surface, since other ice-rich TNOs display a similar color. Apart from its color, the spectrum and surface composition of have not yet been measured in detail and will require further observations.

See also

* , nicknamed "FarFarOut" by its discoverers
* List of Solar System objects by greatest aphelion
* List of Solar System objects most distant from the Sun
* List of trans-Neptunian objects

Notes

References

External links

Discovered: The Most-Distant Solar System Object Ever Observed
– Carnegie Science press release

Farout Images
– Discovery images of taken with the Subaru Telescope


– ''The New York Times'' article by Kenneth Chang

Meet your very, *very* distant solar system neighbor 2018 VG18
– ''Bad Astronomy'' blog by Phil Plait


– ''Minor Planet Center''
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:2018 VG18
Minor planet object articles (unnumbered)
#
#
#
#
Trans-Neptunian objects in a 2:9 resonance