Massive New Object Discovered at Edge of the Solar System

The Oort Cloud is a spherical cloud of comets believed to lie roughly 50,000 AU, or nearly a light-year from the Sun, which places the cloud at nearly a quarter of the distance to Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun. The Kuiper belt and scattered disc, the other two known reservoirs of trans-Neptunian objects, are less than one thousandth the Oort cloud's distance. The outer extent of the Oort cloud defines the boundary of our Solar System.

 

Objects in the Oort cloud are largely composed of ices such as water, ammonia and methane. Astronomers believe that the matter comprising the Oort cloud formed closer to the Sun, and was scattered far out into space by the gravitational effects of the giant planets early in the Solar System's evolution.

The cometary membrane of the Oort Cloud and Kupier Belt actively feeds water to the interior planets, with some  20 to 40 ton water-ice comets hitting the earth's atmosphere 5 to 30 times per minute. Simulations show that Kuiper belt comets simply don't fall directly toward Earth's neighborhood but plod their way toward the inner solar system in stairstep fashion. It turns out that the massive outer planets are almost exactly spaced so that they "hand-off" comets from one to the other. At each step the powerful gravitational field of Neptune, Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter might either eject the comet from the solar system or pass it onto the next planet inside their orbit.

A "minor planet" with the awesomely poetic name 2006 SQ372 is just over two billion miles from Earth, a bit closer than the planet Neptune has been discovered in the inner Oort Cloud. This lump of ice and rock is beginning the return leg of a 22,500-year journey that will take it to a distance of 150 billion miles, nearly 1,600 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun, according to a team of researchers from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-II).

The orbital paths of the major planets are nearly circular, but the orbit of 2006 SQ372 is an ellipse that is four times longer than it is wide, said University of Washington astronomer Andrew Becker, who led the discovery team. The only known object with a comparable orbit is Sedna -- a distant, Pluto-like dwarf planet discovered in 2003 -- but 2006 SQ372's orbit takes it more than one-and-a-half times further from the Sun, and its orbital period is nearly twice as long.

The new object is much smaller than Sedna, Becker said, probably 30-60 miles across instead of nearly 1,000. "It's basically a comet, but it never gets close enough to the Sun to develop a long, bright tail of evaporated gas and dust."

Andy Becker and Nathan Kaib of the University of Washington in Seattle traced the origins of 2006 SQ372, modeling its orbit on a computer. What they found was, that a region no further out than 20,000 AU from the Sun "is the only place in the solar system that can produce these orbits efficiently."

"It could have formed, like Pluto, in the belt of icy debris beyond Neptune, then been kicked to large distance by a gravitational encounter with Neptune or Uranus," said Kaib. "However, we think it is more probable that SQ372 comes from the inner edge of the Oort Cloud."

As we continue to reach further out into space, using more powerful tools, we’re more and more likely to encounter more former-residents of the inner Oort cloud. "I would expect them to discover thousands of such objects, and with a data set so large, we could do a pretty good job in finding out what the inner Oort cloud looks like," Kaib said.

Posted by Josh Hill.

Sources:

http://www.universetoday.com/2008/08/18/astronomers-find-a-new-minor-planet-near-neptune/
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Unusual_New_Denizen_Of_The_Solar_System_999.html

Comments

[Natovr]

Why doesn't this article get to the point quicker? The first 3 paragraphs (almost half) aren't about the title.

[Joe]

So what they are really saying is that scientists/astronomers haven't a clue about this thing.

[Drake]

This article is terrible.

[Vierotchka]

The Planet X Niburu freaks are going to go wild!

[Kyle]

This is a wonderful website with great stories, but I'd rather not read these great stories when I have to cringe because the articles are written so poorly.

Please proof-read before publishing. If you need help, I will gladly volunteer.

[Zorba]

Ok, I didn't bother to read beyond the first paragraph.
I find it amusing when the article title says "...New Object Discovered..." with today's date, and the photo used has a copyright of 1985 Jon Lomberg.

Draw your own conclusions.

[Bosco]

Oh it wasn't so badly written, although the title was somewhat misleading. I was thinking, massive equals MASSIVE, Pluto or bigger. Or, you know, the home world of the Nimbari!
Kyle, I feel your pain. You Oort to know kids today just aren't interested in making new "photo's" of the Oort Cloud anymore ... nooooo, they take pictures of planets, stars, galaxies, clusters of galaxies, superclusters of galaxies, clusters of superclusters of galaxies! but the Oort Cloud? Ignored. Cold and Lonely. sniff sniff

[Jack Vermicelli]

"A "minor planet" with the awesomely poetic name 2006 SQ372 is just over two billion miles from Earth, a bit closer than the planet Neptune has been discovered in the inner Oort Cloud."

Wtf?
Didn't read any farther than this, as the article lost all credibility at this point. Also, missing a comma.

[arkum]

Huh? First it says the ort cloud lies half a light year from the sun. Then it says the object lies in the inner ort cloud and within the orbit of Neptune. I am confused.

[Marvin Wagijo]

Really amazing planet. The name is a bit weird :p, the founder(s) of this planet had no imagination?

[Mike]

WTF! Wher ein this article is there anything about a massive object? An object around the size of Pluto is tiny not massive. Massive is something the size of Jupiter or Saturn.

[Russell Delta]

That is absolutely amazing. What a beautiful object it is. Mesmerizing indeed.

RD
www.decrypt.net.tc

[Bill Budd]

How old is Josh Hill, the author? If he's 12, I'll cut him some slack. If he's much older than that, he really should stop writing for public consumption.

[john]

way to cite wikipedia too

[Do-Ming]

From the article -- "The cometary membrane of the Oort Cloud and Kupier Belt actively feeds water to the interior planets, with some 20 to 40 ton water-ice comets hitting the earth's atmosphere 5 to 30 times per minute. "

I am not sure I understand the quoted sentence. Is this saying that in any minute, there might be up to 30 water ice comets weighing up to 40 tons each hitting the Earth's atmosphere? I am interested in this statistic - can you please provide a source?

Thanks!

[Artic]

The article has some confusing and misleading info. I would also like to see some sources.

[Kevin Bryant]

30-60 miles across is considered "massive" ? A bit of an exaggeration in the title here lol

http://showbc.com

[Dude]

Anyone else notice the "1985" year on the image?

[Dude]

Anyone else notice the "1985" year on the image?

[Frank]

Why isn't Wikipedia listed as a source? Since you basically copy and pasted text from that website.

[Wyatt]

"20 to 40 ton water-ice comets hitting the earth's atmosphere 5 to 30 times per minute" -- impossible. Otherwise, this would be happening all the time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event

"The outer extent of the Oort cloud defines the boundary of our Solar System." -- no, I believe the heliopause defines the boundary of our solar system. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliopause#Heliopause

[knoxvilledaniel]

I think sometimes that the Daily Galaxy just doesn't really TRY anymore. The Oort Cloud & the area around it is ROTTEN with mini - & proto - planetary bodies. This one just ain't very massive at all, & the article is deceptively titled.

Now if the object has a mini - black hole keeping it company, that'd be NEWS !!!

[knoxvilledaniel]

" Pluto Beyond The Stars " !!!!
( A reference to a bad 50's sci - fi movie featured on an episode of the animated series " Mission Hill ". )

Never mind.....

[Vegas Vic]

You all put too much faith in wikipedia.

Beyond that, I too, would like to see a source for, "with some 20 to 40 ton water-ice comets hitting the earth's atmosphere 5 to 30 times per minute", so at a minimum there are 5 20 ton water-ice comets hitting the atmosphere 5 times a minute? Freeow!

[ooceet]

ok i love this kind of information i do, but do you think someday we might get to see what's at the bottom of the ocean, on earth?