Atlas Trail
The Solar System's Far Frontier
A journey outward, from the rocky rubble between Mars and Jupiter to a traveler from beyond the Sun's own gravity altogether: the asteroid belt, the protoplanet mapped in detail by NASA's Dawn mission, the dwarf planet whose 2005 discovery got Pluto demoted, the icy disc those dwarf planets share, the theorized shell far beyond it, one of the long-period comets it is thought to supply, and the first confirmed interstellar object ever observed passing through.
Stop 1 of 7.
Celestial Objects
The rubble left over between Mars and Jupiter, home to millions of asteroids including Vesta and Pallas.
Stop 2 of 7.
Celestial Objects
The only known surviving rocky protoplanet of the kind that built the terrestrial planets, its impact basins mapped in detail by NASA's Dawn mission.
Stop 3 of 7.
Celestial Objects
Its 2005 discovery, far past Pluto and nearly as large, is the direct reason Pluto is classified a dwarf planet today.
Stop 4 of 7.
Celestial Objects
The disc of icy bodies beyond Neptune that Eris, Pluto, Haumea and Makemake all call home.
Stop 5 of 7.
Celestial Objects
A theorized shell far beyond the Kuiper Belt, proposed by Jan Oort in 1950, thought to be the source of the solar system's long-period comets.
Stop 6 of 7.
Celestial Objects
One of those long-period comets, visible to the naked eye for a record eighteen months in 1996 and 1997.
Stop 7 of 7.
Celestial Objects
The first confirmed visitor from outside the solar system altogether, passing through on a hyperbolic path that will never bring it back.
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