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The Most-Distant Solar System Object Discovered (cnn.com)

Rick Zeman writes: Astronomers in Hawaii have discovered the furthest object in our solar system, a dwarf planet aptly named "Farout." This planet is 100 times farther than Earth is from the sun (120 AU from the sun) and is thought to be composed of ice. The object is so far away that researchers estimate it probably takes more than 1,000 years to make one trip around the sun. For reference, Pluto is 34 AU away and takes about 248 years to orbit the sun. Eris, the next most distance object know, is 96 AU from the sun.

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  1. Re: Voyager 2 by hackertourist · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That depends on your definition of "solar system". The 'end' Livescience are talking about is the heliopause, where the environment is no longer dominated by the solar wind. The gravitational influence of the Sun reaches much further than that. The Oort cloud is thought to stretch out to about 1 ly from the sun, beyond that the Sun is no longer the dominant gravitational force.

    This discovery shows it's silly to use definitive statements like "end of the solar system" when objects that are clearly part of our solar system are found beyond 122 AU.