88611 Teharonhiawako, or (88611) Teharonhiawako–Sawiskera as a binary, is a

trans-Neptunian object A trans-Neptunian object (TNO), also written transneptunian object, is any minor planet in the Solar System that orbits the Sun at a greater average distance than Neptune, which has a semi-major axis of 30.1 astronomical units (au). Typically ...

and a member of the cold classical Kuiper belt, measuring about 220 km in diameter. It is a

binary object Binary may refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * Binary number, a representation of numbers using only two digits (0 and 1) * Binary function, a function that takes two arguments * Binary operation, a mathematical operation that ta ...

, with a large companion named Sawiskera (formally designated (88611) Teharonhiawako I Sawiskera), which at 126 km in diameter is about two-thirds the size of its primary. Teharonhiawako was discovered on August 20, 2001, by the

Deep Ecliptic Survey The Deep Ecliptic Survey (DES) is a project to find Kuiper belt objects (KBOs), using the facilities of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO). The principal investigator is Robert L. Millis. Since 1998 through the end of 2003, the ...

, and Sawiskera was identified a month later. The primary is named after Teharonhia꞉wako, a god of

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

in the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

creation myth, while the secondary is named after his evil twin brother Sawiskera. The objects were named in 2007. Sawiskera's orbit has the following parameters: semi-major-axis—, period—, eccentricity— and inclination—(retrograde). The total system mass is about 2.4 kg.

References

External links

* * 088611 088611 Named minor planets Binary trans-Neptunian objects 20010820 {{centaurTNO-stub