Scott S. Sheppard facts for kids

Scott Sander Sheppard (born in 1977) is an American astronomer. He is famous for finding many new moons, comets, and small minor planets far out in our Solar System.

Sheppard works as an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, DC. He studied physics at Oberlin College and then went to the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. While there, he started discovering many small moons orbiting giant planets like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

He also found special objects called Neptune trojans. These are asteroids that share Neptune's orbit around the Sun. His discoveries showed that these objects often have tilted orbits. This suggests they might have been captured from other parts of the Solar System.

An asteroid in the main-belt of our Solar System, called 17898 Scottsheppard, was named after him. It was found in 1999.

Amazing Discoveries in Space

Scott Sheppard has helped find many interesting objects in our Solar System. These include distant trans-Neptunian objects, centaurs (icy bodies between Jupiter and Neptune), comets, and even objects that pass close to Earth.

Comets and Dwarf Planets

• Three comets are named after him: Sheppard-Trujillo (C/2014 F3), Sheppard-Tholen (C/2015 T5), and Trujillo-Sheppard (P/2018 V5).
• He has also found several objects that might be dwarf planets. These include 471143 Dziewanna, 2010 KZ₃₉, 2010 FX₈₆, 2013 FY₂₇, (523671) 2013 FZ₂₇, and 2015 KH₁₆₂.
• In 2018, Sheppard was the main person to find the most distant object ever seen in our Solar System at that time. This dwarf planet, 2018 VG₁₈ (nicknamed "Farout"), is about 120 times farther from the Sun than Earth is!
• He discovered a small minor-planet moon orbiting the likely dwarf planet 2013 FY₂₇.
• He also helped find a moon orbiting another distant object called 341520 Mors–Somnus.

Searching for Planet Nine

Sheppard was the lead discoverer of 2012 VP₁₁₃ (nicknamed "Biden"). This object has one of the most distant orbits known in our Solar System. In 2014, Sheppard and his colleague Chadwick Trujillo noticed something interesting. The orbits of 2012 VP₁₁₃ and other very distant objects in the Kuiper belt seemed to be grouped together.

This led them to suggest that a large, unknown planet might be out there. They think this "Super-Earth" sized planet (which could be 2 to 15 times the mass of Earth) is pulling on these smaller objects. This idea is sometimes called Planet X or Planet Nine. It would be very far away, perhaps 200 to 1500 times farther from the Sun than Earth.

More discoveries, like 2013 FT₂₈ and 2014 SR₃₄₉, also support the idea of a hidden giant planet. In 2018, Sheppard and his team announced the discovery of 541132 Leleākūhonua (nicknamed "The Goblin"). This object is only the third known object in the inner Oort cloud, after 2012 VP₁₁₃ and Sedna. Its orbit is very similar to the others, which further suggests that a large, unseen planet is influencing these distant bodies.

Moons of Giant Planets

Scott Sheppard has been involved in finding many irregular moons around the Solar System's giant planets. These moons are usually small and have strange, tilted orbits.

Jupiter's Moons

He has helped discover many moons of Jupiter (full list includes many more):

Saturn's Moons

He has also helped discover many moons of Saturn (full list includes many more):

Uranus's Moons

He has helped discover moons of Uranus (full list):

• Margaret (2003)
• Ferdinand (2003)
• S/2023 U 1 (2023)

Neptune's Moons

He has helped discover moons of Neptune (full list):

• Psamathe (2003)
• S/2002 N 5 (2021)
• S/2021 N 1 (2021)

See also

In Spanish: Scott S. Sheppard para niños

• List of minor planet discoverers § Discovering astronomers