satanboy
Psychonaut seven
Key details about the 2023 KQ14 "Ammonite" discovery:
- Discovery & Name: Officially designated 2023 KQ₁₄, this object was nicknamed "Ammonite" and found using data from the Subaru telescope in Hawaii, announced in July 2025. It was identified through the FOSSIL survey looking for distant, slow-moving icy bodies.
- Unique Orbit & Classification: Ammonite is classified as a "Sednoid," a type of extreme trans-Neptunian object whose orbit is too far from the Sun to be affected by Neptune's gravity. Only the fourth of its kind known, it has a highly elliptical, tilted orbit that brings it no closer than 66 astronomical units (AU) to the Sun.
- Challenge to Planet Nine: Unlike other known sednoids, Ammonite's orbit is not aligned with them, and its orientation is completely different. This discrepancy weakens the argument that a single undiscovered large planet (Planet Nine) is directing the, orbits of all these distant objects.
- "Fossil World" Significance: Its orbit has remained stable for billions of years, making it a "fossil" or time capsule from the early, turbulent days of the Solar System. It suggests that the outer solar system may have been shaped by a passing star or a more complex, now-ejected, gravitational influence.
- Physical Properties: While its exact size is unknown, it is a small, cold, icy body located in the distant Kuiper Belt or beyond
