Date of Creation: May 31st 2025 for public release by [Your News Agency].
Princeton, NJ – Astronomers have discovered an unusual celestial body known as 2017 OF201 at the farthest reaches of our solar system. This trans-Neptunian object (which could potentially qualify as a dwarf planet) demonstrates an exceptionally long orbit and defies current models of outer solar system structure and dynamics.
Space +10 [Reuters+10 The Economic Times].
2017 OF201 was discovered through a collaborative effort led by Sihao Cheng of Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study along with Jiaxuan Li and Eritas Yang from Princeton University over seven years. Telescopes located across Chile and Hawaii detected it, measuring approx 435 miles (700 kilometers), placing it within the size range of known dwarf planets like Ceres and Quaoar (Wikipedia +9, Reuters+9)
“This object’s aphelion–its farthest point on its orbit from the sun–is more than 1,600 times greater than Earth’s,” explained Cheng. Its perihelion, however, was 44.5 times greater, similar to Pluto.
The Economic Times +8 and Phys.org each provided additional coverage as did Space +2.
At 90.5 astronomical units (AU), 2017 OF201’s orbit spans from 45 AU at its perihelion to an aphelion exceeding 1,600 AU; suggesting it has had complex interactions with other major bodies in its early solar system eg Neptune or Pluto for instance (Phys.org +7; Reuters +7 and Wikipedia both +7)
Live Science
2017 OF201’s discovery adds another trans-Neptunian object (TNO) to our growing catalogue, though its peculiar orbital properties set it apart from its peers. Notably, 2017 OF201 deviates significantly from other TNOs by not following clustered patterns observed among other distant objects – something used as evidence against hypothesizing the existence of “Planet Nine.” As 2017 OF201 does not align with these observed clustering patterns, its unusual orbit poses an argument against such theories; suggesting other possible explanations might exist for these clustering phenomena may exist e.g. Space News +11
Reuters +11 and Institute for Advanced Study +11
2017 OF201 can only be seen from Earth for a small portion of its 25,000-year orbital period due to its distance and faintness; it becomes visible only during a brief window during that timeframe, underlining how difficult it is to detect such distant objects. “It’s getting fainter,” noted Cheng as evidence that many similar bodies remain undetected throughout our solar system. This proves the significance of 2017 OF201 being visible only for so little time at a time compared with when its true magnitude becomes known; CBS News 89% The Times of India 79% The Times of India for 77%
Live Science
2017 OF201 was identified and announced by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center and detailed in a preprint study published on arXiv platform. While its classification as a dwarf planet still needs further examination and peer review, its discovery highlights our solar system’s dynamic nature that remains relatively untamed. For more information, see Institute for Advanced Study+3/Reuters+3/8/19 and Live Science.
Telescopic technology continues to advance, and surveys of the outer solar system continue, leading astronomers to anticipate that they will discover more objects which can provide more insight into our cosmic neighborhood and its formation and evolution.