is a
Kuiper-belt object
The Kuiper belt () is a circumstellar disc in the outer Solar System, extending from the orbit of Neptune at 30 astronomical units (AU) to approximately 50 AU from the Sun. It is similar to the asteroid belt, but is far larger—20 times ...
. It has a diameter of about
and was discovered by Andrew Becker, Andrew Puckett and Jeremy Kubica on 20 October 2004 at
Apache Point Observatory
The Apache Point Observatory (APO; obs. code: 705) is an astronomical observatory located in the Sacramento Mountains in Sunspot, New Mexico, United States, approximately south of Cloudcroft. The observatory is operated by New Mexico State Un ...
in
Sunspot, New Mexico.
The object is classified as a
cubewano
A classical Kuiper belt object, also called a cubewano ( "QB1-o"), is a low-eccentricity Kuiper belt object (KBO) that orbits beyond Neptune and is not controlled by an orbital resonance with Neptune. Cubewanos have orbits with semi-major a ...
.
It is near a 2:3 resonance with
Neptune.
Brown estimates it is
likely a dwarf planet based on its presumed size, calculated from its
absolute magnitude
Absolute magnitude () is a measure of the luminosity of a celestial object on an inverse logarithmic astronomical magnitude scale. An object's absolute magnitude is defined to be equal to the apparent magnitude that the object would have if it ...
(H) and assumed
albedo
Albedo (; ) is the measure of the diffuse reflection of solar radiation out of the total solar radiation and measured on a scale from 0, corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation, to 1, corresponding to a body that refl ...
.
Orbit and rotation
Based on an integration of its motion over 10 million years, has been classified as a
classical Kuiper belt object
A classical Kuiper belt object, also called a cubewano ( "QB1-o"), is a low-eccentricity Kuiper belt object (KBO) that orbits beyond Neptune and is not controlled by an orbital resonance with Neptune. Cubewanos have orbits with semi-major a ...
(cubewano).
It is near a 2:3 resonance with Neptune.
The object is currently at 39 AU from the
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
.
The rotational period of is 5.68 h.
Physical properties
The size of was measured by the
Herschel Space Telescope to be .
The mass of the object is currently unknown but should be greater than about 3 kg.
has a moderately red slope in the visible spectral range. Its visible spectrum does not show any features, although there is a small departure from the linearity near 0.8 μm.
See also
*
*
*
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:144897
Plutinos
2004 UX10
2004 UX10
2004 UX10
Possible dwarf planets
20041020