2017 OF201 is visible for only a sliver of its 25,000-year orbit, turning one archival discovery into a carefully qualified estimate of a much larger hidden population.
2017 OF201 is easy to describe as one more distant object in a steadily growing catalogue. That misses the most consequential part of the discovery.
Astronomers found it during the tiny fraction of … [+11450 chars]
Astronomers found it during the tiny fraction of … [+11450 chars]