A new dwarf planet has been discovered beyond Pluto’s orbit, it name is Goblin.
Source: Universe Today
Astronomers have found a new dwarf planet way out beyond Pluto that never gets closer than 65 AUs to the Sun. It’s nicknamed “The Goblin” which is much more interesting than its science name, 2015 TG387.
AU is astronomical unit, it is the distance between Earth and Sun, which is 149.597.870.700 meters.
The Goblin has a highly-elongated orbit that takes it as far as 2300 AUs from the Sun. It doesn’t interact gravitationally with the other planets in our Solar System, but is bound to the Sun. It’s part of a cluster of Extreme Trans-Neptunal Objects (ETNOs) that together point to the existence of Planet 9.
This is the orbit traversed by Goblin.
The Goblin got its name because it was discovered at Halloween. It’s one of a group of objects that are also called Inner Oort Cloud Objects (IOCOs). The group includes 2012 VP113, and Sedna.
It took a long time to discover and confirm the existence of the Goblin. Several years passed before they could confirm its existence because it has such a long orbital period and moves so slowly. They first observed it in 2015 with the Subaru Telescope. Follow up observations in 2016, 2017, and 2018 using the Magellan telescope at Carnegie’s Las Campanas Observatory in Chile and the Discovery Channel Telescope in Arizona eventually confirmed the planet’s existence. The Goblin’s diameter is only 300 km, putting it on the small end of being a dwarf planet.
It is believed that planet X or 9, also called Nibiru, influences the motion of Goblin and other bodies beyond Pluto. It not confirmed yet the existence of planet X.
