Science
Astronomers Discover 2017 OF201: A Massive Dwarf Planet Beyond Pluto That Could Reshape Our Understanding Of The Solar System
The existence of a mysterious dwarf planet that resembles Pluto has called into question the pre-existing idea of what lies in the vast beyond, and one recent significant scientific discovery may suggest that astronomers need to redraw the map of our solar system.
Scientists can now detect distant objects of interest, such as unlikely bodies of water and perhaps habitable planets, using sophisticated and high-tech equipment like NASA’s James Webb Telescope, thanks to developments in space technology.
However, astronomers’ search for a single mystery object led them to discover what may turn out to be an even more significant discovery, leaving scientists stunned by a finding that may have been right in front of them.
According to Mashable, space scientists have recently found a new dwarf planet that resembles Pluto and is located in the farthest limits of our solar system.
This ‘planet’, which has been temporarily dubbed 2017 OF201, is around 435 miles wide and about the same size as the previously stated Pluto, according to data from the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Plant Centre.
While searching for ‘Planet 9’, a purportedly hidden planet in our solar system that some claim has evidence of life, Sihao Cheng, a postdoctoral member of Princeton University’s Institute for Advanced Study, noticed 2017 OF201 alongside his fellow students.
Even if their search for Planet 9 was unsuccessful—some even argue that this finding disproves its existence—2017 OF201 may be a more interesting discovery because of what it may mean for the entire solar system.
The dwarf planet’s orbital route is what gives it its stunning quality; it isn’t really noteworthy on its own. At its closest point, which is around 44.5 times the distance between Earth and the Sun, it passes close by Pluto and Neptune.
Its maximum distance from the Sun, however, is around 1,600 times that of Earth, which is significantly farther than scientists had previously thought our solar system extended.
A full rotation of 2017 OF201, for instance, would take around 25,000 Earth years, which is 9,981% longer than Pluto’s present orbital period around the Sun.
Although it’s unknown exactly how this dwarf planet got so far into the outer reaches of our solar system, the fact that it now occupies a large portion of the region outside the Kuiper Belt raises questions about what might be concealed there.
“The presence of this single object suggests that there could be another hundred or so other objects with similar orbit and size,” Cheng states, adding that they “are just too far away to be detectable now.”
This will undoubtedly encourage many scientists to try and discover whether there are any other strange objects floating around in the vast regions of our solar system that were previously thought to be barren, even though it seems that the limitation is simply the technology we possess.
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