Distant minor planet Distant minor planet A distant minor planet, or "distant object", is any minor planet found beyond Jupiter in the outer Solar System that is not commonly thought of as an "asteroid". The umbrella term is used by IAU's Minor Planet Center (MPC), which is responsible for the identification, designation and orbit computation of these objects. , the MPC maintains 3497 distant objects in its data base. Most distant minor planets are trans-Neptunian objects and centaurs, while relatively few are damocloids, Neptune trojans or Uranus trojans. All distant objects have a semi-major axis (average distance from the Sun) greater than 6
Formation and evolution of the Solar System Eventually, after billions more years, the Sun will finally cease to shine altogether, becoming a black dwarf. The Solar System travels alone through the Milky Way in a circular orbit approximately 30,000 light years from the Galactic Centre. Its speed is about 220 km/s. The period required for the Solar System to complete one revolution around the Galactic Centre, the galactic year, is in the range of 220–250 million years. Since its formation, the Solar System has completed at least 20 such revolutions. Various scientists have speculated that the Solar System's path through the galaxy is a factor in the