description Scott S. Sheppard Overview
Scott S. Sheppard is an American astronomer who serves as a faculty member at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C. He is recognized in the astronomical community for his extensive discoveries of minor planets, centaurs, and the small moons of the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn. Sheppard has also co-discovered numerous distant outer Solar System bodies with Chad Trujillo, including the inner Oort cloud object 2012 VP113.
His observational research focuses on understanding the formation and evolution of the outer solar system.
help Scott S. Sheppard FAQ
Where does Scott S. Sheppard work, and what does he study?
Scott S. Sheppard is a staff scientist at Carnegie Institution for Science's Earth and Planets Laboratory in Washington, DC. He studies small Solar System bodies, including moons, asteroids, comets, and trans-Neptunian objects. [Carnegie Science](https://carnegiescience.edu/bio/dr-scott-s-sheppard)
Which moons did Scott Sheppard help discover?
A team led by Sheppard found 12 Jupiter moons in 2017 and 20 Saturn moons in 2019. The Jupiter search happened while the team was looking for distant objects near a possible Planet X. [Carnegie Science](https://carnegiescience.edu/bio/dr-scott-s-sheppard)
What is Farfarout?
Farfarout is the nickname for 2018 AG37, found by a team including Sheppard, David Tholen, and Chad Trujillo. Carnegie described it at about 132 astronomical units from the Sun and with an orbit taking roughly a millennium. [Carnegie Science](https://carnegiescience.edu/bio/dr-scott-s-sheppard)
Does Scott Sheppard search for Planet X?
Yes. His surveys of the Kuiper Belt and objects such as 2012 VP113 examine unusual orbits that could be shaped by a distant massive planet, but Planet X remains a hypothesis rather than a confirmed discovery. [Carnegie Science](https://carnegiescience.edu/bio/dr-scott-s-sheppard)
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