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| An artist's impression of 2MASS J2126. (University of Hertfordshire / Neil Cook) |
Scientists have found a planet that is about 600
billion miles from its star or about 7,000 times the distance – or about
7,000 astronomical units - from the Earth to the Sun. That distance
between planet and star means this would be
the widest solar system ever discovered – dwarfing the likes of Neptune which is only 30 AU from the Sun and Pluto which is 40 AU.
The planet, named 2MASS J2126, was identified in 2008 by American-based researchers and later found by Canadian researchers to be a possible member of a 45 million year old group of stars and brown dwarfs known as the Tucana Horologium Association. This made it young and low enough in mass to be classified as a free-floating planet.
source: fox news
the widest solar system ever discovered – dwarfing the likes of Neptune which is only 30 AU from the Sun and Pluto which is 40 AU.
The planet, named 2MASS J2126, was identified in 2008 by American-based researchers and later found by Canadian researchers to be a possible member of a 45 million year old group of stars and brown dwarfs known as the Tucana Horologium Association. This made it young and low enough in mass to be classified as a free-floating planet.
source: fox news
