St. Louis Science Center: Astronomy Fact Of The Day: December 2, 2021

St. Louis MO

03 December, 2021

9:31 AM

Description

Press release from St. Louis Science Center: December 02, 2021 The Earth is on average roughly 93 million miles from the Sun. This is called an astronomical unit (AU). By comparison, Saturn is 9.5 AU and Neptune is 30.1 AU from the Sun. Everybody's favorite dwarf planet Pluto is 39 AU from the Sun. The most distant object observed in the solar system is a Trans-Neptunian object named 2018 AG37. Its nickname is Farfarout which is about 132 AU from the Sun. It takes roughly 1,000 years to orbit the Sun. This press release was produced by St. Louis Science Center. The views expressed here are the author's own.