, provisional designation , 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 ...

of the

scattered disc The scattered disc (or scattered disk) is a distant circumstellar disc in the Solar System that is sparsely populated by icy small solar system bodies, which are a subset of the broader family of trans-Neptunian objects. The scattered-disc obje ...

orbiting in the outermost region of the

Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...

. The Spitzer Space Telescope has estimated this object to be about in diameter, but 2012 estimates from the Herschel Space Observatory estimate the diameter as closer to . It is not a

detached object Detached objects are a dynamical class of minor planets in the outer reaches of the Solar System and belong to the broader family of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). These objects have orbits whose points of closest approach to the Sun (perihelio ...

, since its

perihelion An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any elli ...

(closest approach to the Sun) is under the influence of Neptune. Light-curve-amplitude analysis suggests that it is a

spheroid A spheroid, also known as an ellipsoid of revolution or rotational ellipsoid, is a quadric surface obtained by rotating an ellipse about one of its principal axes; in other words, an ellipsoid with two equal semi-diameters. A spheroid has ...

.Tancredi, G., & Favre, S. (2008
''Which are the dwarfs in the Solar System?''
Depto. Astronomía, Fac. Ciencias, Montevideo, Uruguay; Observatorio Astronómico Los Molinos, MEC, Uruguay. Retrieved 10-08-2011 Tancredi presents "in the form of a decision tree, the set of questions to be considered in order to classify an object as an icy 'dwarf planet'." They find that is very probably a

dwarf planet A dwarf planet is a small planetary-mass object that is in direct orbit of the Sun, smaller than any of the eight classical planets but still a world in its own right. The prototypical dwarf planet is Pluto. The interest of dwarf planets to ...

. Mike Brown's website, using a radiometrically determined diameter of , lists it as a possible dwarf planet.

Discovery

Discovered in 1996 by

David C. Jewitt David Clifford Jewitt (born 1958) is a British-American astronomer who studies the Solar System, especially its minor bodies. He is based at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he is a Member of the Institute for Geophysics and Pl ...

et al., it was the first object to be categorized as a scattered-disk object (SDO), although , discovered a year earlier, was later recognised as a scattered-disk object. It was considered one the largest known trans-Neptunian objects at the time of the discovery, being placed second after Pluto. It came to

in 2001.

Orbit and size

orbits 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 ...

with a semi-major axis of 83.9 AU but is currently only 35 AU from the Sun with an

apparent magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star or other astronomical object observed from Earth. An object's apparent magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance from Earth, and any extinction of the object's ...

of 21. In 2007, the Spitzer Space Telescope estimated it to have a low

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 ...

with a diameter of about . More-recent measurements in 2012 by the 'TNOs are Cool' research project and reanalysis of older data have resulted in a new estimate of these figures. It is now assumed that it has a higher albedo and the diameter was revised downward to . Light-curve-amplitude analysis shows only small deviations, suggesting is a spheroid with small albedo spots and may be a dwarf planet.

References

External links

– A New Type of Transneptunian Object
MPC news release

Our Solar System Is Getting Crowded
''

Science Magazine ''Science'', also widely referred to as ''Science Magazine'', is the peer-reviewed academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and one of the world's top academic journals. It was first published in 1880, ...

''
– A New Dynamical Class in the Outer Solar System
David Jewitt's Kuiper Belt website

* {{DEFAULTSORT:1996 TL66 015874 Discoveries by Chad Trujillo Discoveries by David C. Jewitt Discoveries by Jane Luu Discoveries by Jun Chen (astronomer) 015874 19961009