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World|science|December 18, 2018 / 06:30 PM
Astronomers discover solar system's farthest object

AKIPRESS.COM - Astronomers have discovered the most distant body in the solar system, a pink micro-planet which has been nicknamed "Farout", Sky News reports.

The object was announced by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Centre, and has been given the provisional official designation 2018 VG18.

Farout is - as its name suggests - is extremely distant from the Sun.

It is about 120 astronomical units (AU) away - one AU is defined as the distance between the Earth and the Sun.

The discovery was made by the Carnegie Institute of Science's (CIS) Scott Sheppard, alongside the University of Hawaii's David Tholen, and Northern Arizona University's Chad Trujillo.

It was discovered as part of the team's continuing search for extremely distant Solar System objects, including the suspected Planet X, sometimes called Planet 9 following Pluto's downgrading.

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