Leleākūhonua

Leleākūhonua travels out to more than 2,000 AU on a 41,000-year orbit

Leleākūhonua, found in October 2015 and nicknamed "The Goblin" because it was announced near Halloween, is the third known sednoid. Its orbit is among the largest of any known solar system object: it comes no closer than 65 AU but swings out to more than 2,000 AU, taking about 41,000 years. A 2019 stellar occultation measured it at about 220 km across, too small to be a dwarf planet. Its Hawaiian name, chosen in 2020, comes from a creation chant and refers to the flight of an Ao bird.

Its orbit lines up with those of Sedna and 2012 VP113, and computer models show it staying aligned if an undiscovered Planet Nine exists.

Leleākūhonua compared with Pluto

Pluto is the yardstick for the outer solar system: 2,376 km across, 39.5 AU from the Sun on average, on a 248-year orbit.

Leleākūhonua is beyond the reach of backyard telescopes

At about magnitude 24.6, Leleākūhonua is far too faint for amateur telescopes and is followed with some of the largest telescopes on Earth.

Leleākūhonua among the dwarf planets and distant worlds

Leleākūhonua physical and orbital data

From the site's planets dataset (planets_q426). Each row in the dataset lists its sources.