Meet the New “goblin” in Our Solar System
Move Pluto: a new dwarf planet has appeared in our solar system called Goblin.
Earlier this week, scientists announced the discovery of an “extremely distant object” that confirms the existence of a larger Planet X, also known as Planet Nine. Although the new dwarf planet is officially listed as 2015 TG387, the discoverers christened it “Goblin” because of its tentative “TG” designation, and – no kidding – it was first seen around Halloween .
Below is your goblin belt with all the key information about our seasonal new friend:
What’s this?
The goblin is a dwarf planet, which means that it orbits the sun, but does not have strong enough influence to prevent other planetary bodies from entering its “vicinity”. Pluto, which previously had full planet status, was downgraded to a dwarf planet in 2006. Scientists estimate that 2015 TG387 is about 185 miles (300 kilometers) in diameter, making it relatively small – even for a dwarf planet.
Where is it?
Scientists have discovered a goblin at a distance of about 80 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun. That’s the equivalent of roughly 7.4 billion miles – 2.5 times farther than Pluto. The Goblin’s closest orbital distance is estimated at 65 AU, or just over 6 billion miles, while its farthest point is approximately 2300 AU. (almost 214 billion miles). So it’s really very far away, and the researchers say it takes about 40,000 years to complete this orbit.
Two well-known companion objects – Sedna and 2012 VP113 – exist together with 2015 TG387 in the so-called Inner Oort Cloud (IOC). The Oort Cloud is an astronomical space containing icy debris that surrounds our solar system. However, some experts say the Oort Cloud may not be the most accurate way to portray these discoveries.
Who found it?
Scott Sheppard, a fellow at the Carnegie Institute of Science, Chadwick Trujillo of Northern Arizona University, and David Tholen of the University of Hawaii led the team that unveiled the 2015 TG387. They first observed the object in October 2015 at the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Since the Goblin moves so slowly and has such a large orbit, it took three years to gather enough information to determine its nature.
Okay, so what?
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the Goblin is that scientists were lucky to discover it from the start. There are likely thousands more objects floating in space, but their distance makes them nearly impossible to detect with our current instruments. The research team claims that 2015 TG387 will be invisible for about 99 percent of its 40,000-year orbit, which means they just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
Another exciting part of the Goblin’s story is that it could point to the existence of Planet X, or Planet Nine, which is believed to be several times the mass of Earth. Simulations show that this elusive planet, if real, can form the orbits of small, distant objects like the 2015 TG387.