A "minor planet" with the awesomely poetic name 2006 SQ372 is just over two billion miles from Earth, a bit closer than the planet Neptune has been discovered in the inner Oort Cloud. This lump of ice and rock is beginning the return leg of a 22,500-year journey that will take it to a distance of 150 billion miles, nearly 1,600 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun, according to a team of researchers from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-II).
The orbital paths of the major planets are nearly circular, but the orbit of 2006 SQ372 is an ellipse that is four times longer than it is wide, said University of Washington astronomer Andrew Becker, who led the discovery team.
www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/08/new-discoveries.html
www.universetoday.com/2008/08/18/astronomers-find-a-new-minor-planet-near-neptune/
www.spacedaily.com/reports/Unusual_New_Denizen_Of_The_Solar_System_999’
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