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NDTV
16 minutes ago
- Science
- NDTV
Scientists Find Mysterious Object In Kuiper Belt, And It's Not A Planet
Scientists have found a small and icy object, designated 2023 KQ14 and nicknamed "Ammonite". It is far beyond Neptune and is currently orbiting the Sun. Ammonite, a name based on fossilised sea creatures, has been classified as a sednoid, not a planet or dwarf planet. Scientists have previously explained that a sednoid is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) with a large semi-major axis, a distant perihelion and a highly eccentric orbit. This TNO is the fourth sednoid ever found. The object was discovered using the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii as part of the FOSSIL (Formation of the Outer Solar System: An Icy Legacy) survey project. It was first spotted in March, May and August 2023 and confirmed in July 2024. As per a paper published in Nature Astronomy on July 14, the object is estimated to be 300-700 km in diameter and likely composed of ice, rock and organic compounds. When it comes to orbital characteristics, the object has a perihelion of 66 astronomical units (AU). One AU is the average distance between the Earth and the Sun. Meanwhile, aphelion is 252 AU. The object has followed a stable orbit for at least 4.5 billion years. "The orbit of Ammonite does not align with those of the other Sedna-like objects and fills the previously unexplained 'q-gap' in the observed distribution of distant Solar System objects," the authors explained in their paper. "The fact that 2023 KQ14's current orbit does not align with those of the other three sednoids lowers the likelihood of the Planet Nine hypothesis," Dr Yukun Huang of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), who is also a co-author of the paper, said in a press release. "It is possible that a planet once existed in the Solar System but was later ejected, causing the unusual orbits we see today." According to study co-author Dr Fumi Yoshida, Neptune is the only known massive object near the outer Solar System that could have shaped the orbits of the TNOs and Sednoids. However, Ammonite is quite far away. "2023 KQ14 was found in a region far away where Neptune's gravity has little influence. The presence of objects with elongated orbits and large perihelion distances in this area implies that something extraordinary occurred during the ancient era when 2023 KQ14 formed," Yoshida said. The object is considered a "fossil" from the early solar system as it supposedly preserves conditions from 4.5 billion years ago. Scientists aim to use Ammonite's discovery to fill a longstanding gap in the basic understanding of distant orbits.
Gizmodo
5 days ago
- Science
- Gizmodo
Astronomers Discover Potential Dwarf Planet Lurking Way Beyond Pluto
Astronomers in Japan have spotted a distant object orbiting the Sun far beyond Neptune, pointing to an extraordinary event that took place during the earliest years of the solar system. Astronomers used the Subaru Telescope, perched atop a dormant volcano in Hawaii, to make the discovery. They observed a small object orbiting at a farthest distance of 252 AU from the Sun, in which one astronomical unit equals the average distance between the Sun and Earth. Scientists gave it the formal designation 2023 KQ14 and nicknamed it Ammonite, after an extinct group of marine animals—a nod to its status as an extreme relic of the early solar system. For reference, Pluto's average distance from the Sun is about 40 AU, so 2023 KQ14 is quite distant. At 23.4 billion miles (37.7 billion kilometers) away, light reflecting off Ammonite takes approximately 34 hours to reach Earth. The discovery, published in Nature Astronomy on Tuesday, marks the fourth detection of a 'Sednoid.' This group of distant, trans-Neptunian objects have extremely elongated orbits that stretch past the Kuiper Belt. Unlike other objects that orbit the Sun past Neptune, Sednoids are detached from the giant planet, meaning they are not influenced by its gravitational field. Astronomers discovered the first Sednoid, named Sedna, in 2003. Astronomers first discovered Ammonite in 2023 through Subaru's survey project, FOSSIL (Formation of the Outer Solar System: An Icy Legacy). Follow-up observations in July 2024 using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope confirmed the discovery, revealing the object's orbit. It was also spotted in archive images taken in 2021 and 2014, allowing astronomers to simulate its orbit with greater accuracy. Using computer simulations, the researchers behind the discovery suggest that Ammonite has maintained a stable orbit for at least 4.5 billion years. At its closest approach to the Sun, it comes within 66 AUs from the star. Unlike its Sednoid counterparts, Ammonite currently follows a different orbit. The simulations, however, indicated that the orbits of all four known Sednoids were once very similar around 4.2 billion years ago. This puts into question the existence of the theorized Planet Nine. Sednoids are one of the key pieces of evidence behind the long-held theory that a massive ninth planet orbits the Sun beyond Neptune. The group of small objects follows an oddly aligned, elongated orbit that can't be explained based on the gravitational influence of the known planets of the solar system, suggesting that a ninth, undiscovered planet may be tugging at the Sednoids. 'The fact that Ammonite's current orbit does not align with those of the other three sednoids lowers the likelihood of the Planet Nine hypothesis,' Yukun Huang, a researcher at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan who carried out the simulations of Ammonite's orbit, said in a statement. 'It is possible that a planet once existed in the Solar System but was later ejected, causing the unusual orbits we see today.' Ammonite is estimated to be between 136 and 236 miles wide (220 and 380 kilometers). Although tiny, its presence is indicative of something much larger at play. 'Ammonite was found in a region far away where Neptune's gravity has little influence. The presence of objects with elongated orbits and large perihelion distances in this area implies that something extraordinary occurred during the ancient era when Ammonite formed,' Fumi Yoshida, a planetary scientist and co-author of the new study, said in a statement. 'Understanding the orbital evolution and physical properties of these unique, distant objects is crucial for comprehending the full history of the solar system.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
A Mysterious World Has Been Discovered Lurking in Our Solar System—Meet 'Ammonite'
Researchers just got a step closer to understanding the origins of our solar system, with the discovery of an object orbiting the sun—dubbed "Ammonite." The findings were recently published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature Astronomy. Ammonite, or its scientific name 2023 KQ14, is known as a sednoid, which is a type of cosmic body circling the sun beyond Neptune with a highly eccentric orbit. It's only the fourth sednoid ever discovered. It comes as close as 66 astronomical units (AU) from the sun and as far away as 252 AU. One astronomical unit is equal to the average distance between Earth and the sun, or about 93 million miles. Ammonite was discovered by the survey project "FOSSIL" (Formation of the Outer Solar System: An Icy Legacy), which is led by researchers from Japan and Taiwan who explore the outer solar system to learn about its past. The research team used the powerful Subaru Telescope, located at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii. The telescope has wide-field imaging capabilities that are uniquely suited for scanning large patches of the sky for faint, slow-moving objects like Ammonite. Computer simulations show that Ammonite's orbit has remained stable for billions of years, unaffected by gravitational interactions with other solar system objects. This long-term stability makes Ammonite one of the best-preserved "fossils" of our solar system's distant past, suggesting that it originates from the solar system's early formation and retains a fossil record of the orbital configuration. Ying-Tung Chen, one of the authors of the study and a support scientist at the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica (ASIAA), in Taiwan, said in a statement that while previously known sednoid objects all share roughly similar orbital orientations, Ammonite's orbit is oriented in the opposite direction, suggesting that the outer solar system is more diverse and complex than previously thought. What caused this clustering of objects is still unclear, with scientists hypothesizing about the possibility of a passing star or an ejected planet. "The significance of discovering Ammonite goes far beyond adding one more distant object," Shiang-Yu Wang, one of the study's authors and a research fellow at ASIAA, said in a statement. "Ammonite's orbit tells us that something sculpted the outer solar system very early on. Whether it was a passing star or a hidden planet, this discovery brings us closer to the truth." Read the original article on Martha Stewart Solve the daily Crossword
