Sedna (2003 VB12)

The coldest most distant place known in the solar system; possibly the first object in the long-hypothesized Oort cloud,

The view from Sedna with everything identified

See the nice cover article in Discover Magazine about Sedna and the rest of the outer solar system

Sedna's name is now official! (and not everyone is happy)

Does Sedna have a moon?

Is Sedna a planet? (is Pluto a planet? what exactly makes something a planet?)

Read the scientific paper describing this discovery

On 15 March 2004, astronomers from Caltech, Gemini Observatory, and Yale University announced the discovery of the coldest, most distant object known to orbit the sun. The object was found at a distance 90 times greater than that from the sun to the earth -- about 3 times further than Pluto, the most distant known planet.

The discovery was made on the Samuel Oschin Telescope at the Palomar Observatory east of San Diego on 14 November 2003 by the team of Mike Brown (Caltech), Chad Trujillo (Gemini Observatory) and David Rabinowitz (Yale).

Because of its frigid temperatures, the team has named the object Sedna, after the Inuit goddess of the sea from whom all sea creatures were created.

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>> More about Sedna at URL above. - LRK -