TY - JOUR
T1 - A sedna-like body with a perihelion of 80 astronomical units
AU - Trujillo, Chadwick A.
AU - Sheppard, Scott S.
N1 - Funding Information:
constructed by the Dark Energy Survey collaborating institutions. Observations were in part obtained at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, National Optical Astronomy Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, under contract with the National Science Foundation. This paper includes data gathered with the 6.5-m Magellan telescopes located at Las CampanasObservatory,Chile.ThisresearchwasfundedbyNASAPlanetaryAstronomy grant NNX12AG26G and has also been supported by the Gemini Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., on behalf of the international Gemini partnership of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile and the USA.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - The observable Solar System can be divided into three distinct regions: the rocky terrestrial planets including the asteroids at 0.39 to 4.2 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun (where 1 AU is the mean distance between Earth and the Sun), the gas giant planets at 5 to 30 AU from the Sun, and the icy Kuiper belt objects at 30 to 50 AU fromthe Sun.The 1,000-kilometre-diameterdwarf planet Sedna was discovered ten years ago and was unique in that its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is 76 AU, far greater than that of any other Solar Systembody1. Formation models indicate that Sedna could be a link between the Kuiper belt objects and the hypothesized outer Oort cloud at around 10,000 AU fromthe Sun2-6. Herewe report the presence of a second Sedna-like object, 2012VP113, whoseperihelion is 80 AU. The detection of 2012VP113 confirms that Sedna is not an isolated object; instead, both bodies may be members of the inner Oort cloud, whose objects could outnumber all other dynamically stable populations in the Solar System.
AB - The observable Solar System can be divided into three distinct regions: the rocky terrestrial planets including the asteroids at 0.39 to 4.2 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun (where 1 AU is the mean distance between Earth and the Sun), the gas giant planets at 5 to 30 AU from the Sun, and the icy Kuiper belt objects at 30 to 50 AU fromthe Sun.The 1,000-kilometre-diameterdwarf planet Sedna was discovered ten years ago and was unique in that its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is 76 AU, far greater than that of any other Solar Systembody1. Formation models indicate that Sedna could be a link between the Kuiper belt objects and the hypothesized outer Oort cloud at around 10,000 AU fromthe Sun2-6. Herewe report the presence of a second Sedna-like object, 2012VP113, whoseperihelion is 80 AU. The detection of 2012VP113 confirms that Sedna is not an isolated object; instead, both bodies may be members of the inner Oort cloud, whose objects could outnumber all other dynamically stable populations in the Solar System.
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U2 - 10.1038/nature13156
DO - 10.1038/nature13156
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84897379683
SN - 0028-0836
VL - 507
SP - 471
EP - 474
JO - Nature
JF - Nature
IS - 7493
ER -