NAU Astronomy & Planetary Science In the News

NAU’s Trujillo on team discovering farthest solar system object ever seen

Posted by Author on Source on January 4, 2019

Jan. 4, 2019

A team of astronomers, including Northern Arizona University scientist Chad Trujillo, earlier this week announced their discovery of an object at about 120 astronomical units (AU) from Earth—the farthest observed object in the solar system. One AU represents the distance between the Earth and the Sun, approximately 93 million miles.

Nicknamed “Farout” by the discovery team—and formally designated 2018 VG18 by the International Astronomical Union—the object is… Read more

Discovered: The Most-Distant Solar System Object Ever Observed

Posted by Author on Source on December 17, 2018

Moon in space with Earth in the background

Washington, DC— A team of astronomers has discovered the most-distant body ever observed in our Solar System.  It is the first known Solar System object that has been detected at a distance that is more than 100 times farther than Earth is from the Sun.

The new object was announced on Monday, December 17, 2018, by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center and has been given the provisional designation 2018 VG18. The discovery was made by Carnegie’s Scott… Read more

‘Farout,’ the most-distant solar system object discovered – CNN

Posted by Author on Source on

The International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center announced the discovery Monday, calling the object 2018 VG18. But the researchers who found it are calling it “Farout.”

They believe the spherical object is a dwarf planet more than 310 miles in diameter, with a pinkish hue. That color has been associated with objects that are rich in ice, and given… Read more

Meteor Crater offers open-air classroom, lab for NAU students and researchers (VIDEO)

Posted by Author on Source on December 7, 2018

Before they walked on the moon, they walked in Meteor Crater.

This geologic formation, about 30 miles east of Flagstaff, was pivotal to the United States’ efforts to learn about the Moon; the astronauts who first set foot on the Moon all trained and prepared at Meteor Crater. Today, scientists and students from NAU and other institutions go to the crater, which is the best-preserved meteor crater on the planet, to study the interactions between other celestial bodies… Read more

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