A new dwarf planet that lives on the edge of our solar system has been discovered and named. Officially known as 2015 TG387, it has been nicknamed “the Goblin,” and in form it is likely a ball of ice. First seen on a telescope in October 2015, the dwarf planet was announced by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center this week.
The Goblin takes an astounding 40,000 years to orbit around the sun just once. Its diameter of just 300 kilometers puts TG387 firmly on the smaller side of dwarf planets, as the Goblin seems to be about 1/6th of Pluto’s width.
One of the major implications of Goblin’s discovery is the suggestion of a larger unknown planet nearby. Goblin, like fellow dwarf planets nicknamed “Sedna” and “Biden,” has a skewed orbit, which some scientists believe is the result of a much larger planet’s presence. Scott Sheppard, one of the astronomers behind the discovery, told The Washington Post that he believes there is an 80 percent chance the so-called “Planet Nine” exists.
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