Visuals: Most Distant Object in Solar System Discovered

Spitzer Space Telescope

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Release Images

SSC2004-05a: Discovery image from 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory.
Credit: NASA/Caltech/M. Brown

SSC2004-05b: Artist's conception of Sedna.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC-Caltech)

SSC2004-05c: Size comparison between Sedna and other bodies in the Solar System.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC-Caltech)

SSC2004-05d: The location and orbit of the new object is shown in context with the orbits of the Solar System, known asteroids and Kuiper belt objects, and the hypothesized Oort cloud of distant objects orbiting the Sun.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC-Caltech)

SSC2004-05e: A diagram showing the current (15 March 2004) location of Sedna in the night sky.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/H. Kline (JPL)

Video

SSC2004-05v1: This 20-second video shows the orbit of Sedna relative to the rest of the Solar System.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC-Caltech)

The Spitzer Space Telescope is a NASA mission managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This website is maintained by the Spitzer Science Center, located on the campus of the California Institute of Technology and part of NASA's Infrared Processing and Analysis Center.