The universe is certainly a very, very large thing – so much so that you might want to consider it to be infinitely vast, although theoretically speaking, there is a limit to the edges of the expanding universe. With so much to look into, surely there are new discoveries from time to time – and here we are with word that scientists have come across what they deem to be the widest planet system to date. This discovery would place the planet in question at approximately 600 billion miles from its star, and that would be approximately 7,000 times the distance (or 7,000 astronomical units) from the Earth to the Sun, which would mean it is the widest solar system we have seen so far.
In fact, being 7,000 astronomical units (AU) in width would make it surpass the likes of Neptune that is a “mere” 30 AU from the Sun, and Pluto (which is no longer considered to be a planet) that would be 40 AU. University of Hertfordshire’s Niall Deacon shared, “This is the widest planet system found so far and both the members of it have been known for eight years. But nobody had made the link between the objects before. The planet is not quite as lonely as we first thought, but it’s certainly in a very long distance relationship.”
The planet has been named 2MASS J2126, where it was first identified in 2008 by American-based researchers, and then figured out that it could jolly well be a possible member of a 45 million year old group of stars and brown dwarfs that have been dubbed the Tucana Horologium Association.