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provisional designation Provisional designation in astronomy is the naming convention applied to astronomical objects immediately following their discovery. The provisional designation is usually superseded by a permanent designation once a reliable orbit has been calcu ...
) is a large trans-Neptunian object in the
Kuiper belt 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 ...
, which is a region of icy planetesimals beyond
Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...
. It was discovered on 18 June 2002 by Chad Trujillo and Michael Brown during their search for bright, Pluto-sized Kuiper belt objects at
Palomar Observatory Palomar Observatory is an astronomical research observatory in San Diego County, California, United States, in the Palomar Mountain Range. It is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Research time at the observat ...
. To within measurement uncertainties, , , and have a diameter close to , which makes them the largest unnamed objects in the Solar System. is large enough that astronomers consider it a possible dwarf planet. The surface of is dark gray and is composed of water and carbon dioxide ices. has been observed through stellar occultations, which have revealed massive topographic features along the outline of its shape. These features include a mountain-like peak that is tall and a
crater Crater may refer to: Landforms *Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet *Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surfac ...
-like depression that is wide and deep. 's topographic features are among the tallest and deepest known for Solar System bodies.


History


Discovery

was discovered on 18 June 2002 by astronomers Chad Trujillo and Michael Brown at
Palomar Observatory Palomar Observatory is an astronomical research observatory in San Diego County, California, United States, in the Palomar Mountain Range. It is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Research time at the observat ...
in
San Diego County, California San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...
, United States. The discovery formed part their Caltech Wide Area Sky Survey for bright, Pluto-sized Kuiper belt objects using the observatory's Samuel Oschin telescope with its wide-field
CCD camera A charge-coupled device (CCD) is an integrated circuit containing an array of linked, or coupled, capacitors. Under the control of an external circuit, each capacitor can transfer its electric charge to a neighboring capacitor. CCD sensors are a ...
, which was operated jointly with the nightly
Near Earth Asteroid Tracking Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) was a program run by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, surveying the sky for near-Earth objects. NEAT was conducted from December 1995 until April 2007, at GEODSS on Hawaii (Haleakala-NEAT; 566), as wel ...
program at Palomar. This survey was responsible for the discovery of several other large objects beyond
Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...
, which includes the dwarf planets , , and . was found through manual vetting of potential moving objects identified by the team's automatic image-searching software. It was among the fainter objects detected, just below the survey's
limiting magnitude In astronomy, limiting magnitude is the faintest apparent magnitude of a celestial body that is detectable or detected by a given instrument. In some cases, limiting magnitude refers to the upper threshold of detection. In more formal uses, limi ...
with an observed brightness of magnitude 20.9. Follow-up observations were conducted two months later with Palomar Observatory's telescope on 8 August 2002. The discovery was announced by the
Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function ...
on 21 November 2002 and the object was given the minor planet
provisional designation Provisional designation in astronomy is the naming convention applied to astronomical objects immediately following their discovery. The provisional designation is usually superseded by a permanent designation once a reliable orbit has been calcu ...
of .


Further observations

Since receiving follow-up in August 2002, remained unobserved for more than nine months until it was recovered by Trujillo at Palomar Observatory on 29 May 2003, followed by observations by
Wolf Bickel Wolf Bickel (born 6 July 1942, Bensberg) is a German amateur astronomer and a prolific discoverer of asteroids, observing at his private Bergisch Gladbach Observatory, Germany. He is the most successful German discoverer of minor planets. Bi ...
at
Bergisch Gladbach Observatory The Bergisch Gladbach Observatory is an astronomical observatory located in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, at . Its observatory code is 621. Astronomer Wolf Bickel. See also * List of astronomical observatories This is a list of astronomical obse ...
in Germany in June 2003. These recovery observations significantly reduced the uncertainty of 's orbit, allowing for further extrapolation of its position backwards in time for identification in
precovery In astronomy, precovery (short for pre-discovery recovery) is the process of finding the image of an object in images or photographic plates predating its discovery, typically for the purpose of calculating a more accurate orbit. This happens mos ...
observations. Seven precovery observations from
Digitized Sky Survey The Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) is a digitized version of several photographic astronomical surveys of the night sky, produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute between 1983 and 2006. Versions and source material The term Digitized Sky S ...
plates were identified by astronomer Andrew Lowe in 2007; the earliest of these was taken on 8 April 1954 by
Palomar Observatory Palomar Observatory is an astronomical research observatory in San Diego County, California, United States, in the Palomar Mountain Range. It is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Research time at the observat ...
. , has been observed for over 68 years, or about 25% of its orbital period.


Numbering and naming

received its permanent minor planet catalog number of 307261 from the Minor Planet Center on 10 December 2011. As of yet, it remains unnamed and the discoverers' privilege for naming this object expired ten years after its numbering. Per naming guidelines by the International Astronomical Union's
Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature In ancient times, only the Sun and Moon, a few stars, and the most easily visible planets had names. Over the last few hundred years, the number of identified astronomical objects has risen from hundreds to over a billion, and more are discovered ...
, is open for name suggestions that pertain to creation myths, as required for Kuiper belt objects in general.


Orbit and classification

is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune with an orbital period of 269 years. Its
semi-major axis In geometry, the major axis of an ellipse is its longest diameter: a line segment that runs through the center and both foci, with ends at the two most widely separated points of the perimeter. The semi-major axis (major semiaxis) is the long ...
or average orbital distance from the Sun is 41.7 astronomical units (AU), with a moderate
orbital eccentricity In astrodynamics, the orbital eccentricity of an astronomical object is a dimensionless parameter that determines the amount by which its orbit around another body deviates from a perfect circle. A value of 0 is a circular orbit, values betwee ...
of 0.15. In its eccentric orbit, comes within 35.7 AU from the Sun at perihelion and 47.8 AU at aphelion. It has an orbital inclination of nearly 18° with respect to the ecliptic. last passed perihelion in April 1853, passed aphelion in February 1987, and will make its next perihelion passage in June 2123. is located in the classical region of the
Kuiper belt 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 ...
37–48 AU from the Sun, and is thus classified as a classical Kuiper belt object or cubewano. 's high orbital inclination qualifies it as a dynamically "hot" member of the classical Kuiper belt, which implies that it was gravitationally
scattered Scattered may refer to: Music * ''Scattered'' (album), a 2010 album by The Handsome Family * "Scattered" (The Kinks song), 1993 * "Scattered", a song by Ace Young * "Scattered", a song by Lauren Jauregui * "Scattered", a song by Green Day from ' ...
out to its present location by Neptune's outward planetary migration in the Solar System's early history. 's present orbit is far enough from Neptune ( minimum orbit intersection distance 6.6 AU) that it no longer experiences scattering from close encounters with the planet. A dynamical study in 2007 simulated 's orbital evolution over a 10-million-year timespan and found that it may be in an intermittent 18:11 mean-motion orbital resonance with Neptune, which seems to cause irregular fluctations in 's orbital inclination and eccentricity. Despite this, researchers do not consider to be in resonance with Neptune.


Observability

In the night sky, is located near the Milky Way's Galactic Center in the southern celestial hemisphere. It has been passing through that region's dense field of background stars since its discovery. Combined with 's faint apparent magnitude of 20.5 as seen from Earth, its crowded location can make observations difficult. On the other hand, 's location makes it viable for observing stellar occultations as there are numerous stars for it to pass in front of.


Occultations

Stellar occultations by occur when it passes in front of a star and blocks out its light, causing the star to dim for several seconds until emerges. Observing stellar occultations by can provide precise measurements for its position, shape, and size. Due to
parallax Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to foreshortening, nearby objects ...
between Earth, , and the occulted star, occultations by may only be observable to certain locations on Earth. For this reason, 's orbital trajectory and
ephemeris In astronomy and celestial navigation, an ephemeris (pl. ephemerides; ) is a book with tables that gives the trajectory of naturally occurring astronomical objects as well as artificial satellites in the sky, i.e., the position (and possibly vel ...
must be precisely known before occultation predictions can be reliably made. To facilitate occultation predictions for , astronomers of the
European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...
's ''Lucky Star'' project gathered
astrometric Astrometry is a branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other celestial bodies. It provides the kinematics and physical origin of the Solar System and this galaxy, the Milky Way. Histor ...
observations of from 2009–2019 to reduce its orbital uncertainty and utilized the ''Gaia'' catalogues for high-precision positions of stars. From 2019–2022, the ''Lucky Star'' project organized campaigns for astronomers worldwide to observe the predicted occultations by , yielding nine successfully-observed occultations by the end of the period. The first successfully-observed occultation by took place in South America on 9 July 2019, which yielded two positive detections and four negative detections from the 10 participating telescope locations; the remaining four telescopes were affected by poor weather. More successful observations of 's occultations took place on 26 July and 19 August 2019, which provided highly precise astrometry that helped refine later occultation predictions. On 8 August 2020, the ''Lucky Star'' project organized a large observing campaign for , which would occult a relatively bright star of apparent magnitude 14.6 and be observable over densely-populated regions in multiple continents. A total of 116 telescope locations from Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia participated in the campaign and yielded 61 positive detections and 40 negative detections, with the remaining 15 telescopes inhibited by poor weather or technical difficulties. The observers of the occultation found no evidence of rings, cometary jets, or natural satellites around . This is the most extensive participation in a TNO occultation campaign . Thanks to the large amount of positive detections across various locations, the global shape outline and topography of could be seen clearly for the first time. File:2002 MS4 occultation map - Rommel et al. 2023 Fig 3.tif, Map showing the location of telescopes that participated in the 8 August 2020 occultation campaign. Telescopes within the path of 's shadow (region between the two solid blue curves) made positive detections (blue and red points), whereas telescopes outside the path made negative detections (green points). File:2002 MS4 occultation chords - Rommel et al. 2023 Fig 1.tif, 's projected shape revealed by the many positive detection chords from the 8 August 2020 occultation (blue with red error bars). A massive topographic peak and depression is visible along 's
limb Limb may refer to: Science and technology *Limb (anatomy), an appendage of a human or animal *Limb, a large or main branch of a tree *Limb, in astronomy, the curved edge of the apparent disk of a celestial body, e.g. lunar limb *Limb, in botany, ...
in the northeast direction.


Physical characteristics

Results from the extensively observed 8 August 2020 occultation show that has a shape close to that of an
oblate 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 circ ...
, with an equatorial diameter of and a polar diameter of up to . 's mean diameter from these dimensions is , which places it between the diameters of the two largest asteroids,
Ceres Ceres most commonly refers to: * Ceres (dwarf planet), the largest asteroid * Ceres (mythology), the Roman goddess of agriculture Ceres may also refer to: Places Brazil * Ceres, Goiás, Brazil * Ceres Microregion, in north-central Goiás st ...
and Vesta. It is unknown whether 's equator is being viewed obliquely or edge-on from Earth's perspective, so it is possible that the object's actual polar diameter may be smaller, or have a greater
oblateness Flattening is a measure of the compression of a circle or sphere along a diameter to form an ellipse or an ellipsoid of revolution (spheroid) respectively. Other terms used are ellipticity, or oblateness. The usual notation for flattening is ...
, than observed in the August 2020 occultation. is the 10th (or 11th if counting Pluto's moon
Charon In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon (; grc, Χάρων) is a psychopomp, the ferryman of Hades, the Greek underworld. He carries the souls of those who have been given funeral rites across the rivers Acheron and Styx, which separate the wo ...
) largest known TNO. Because of its large size, it is considered a dwarf planet candidate by astronomers. With measurement uncertainties considered, it is tied with and (diameters and , respectively) as the largest unnamed object in the Solar System. was previously thought to have a larger diameter of , according to infrared
thermal emission Thermal radiation is electromagnetic radiation generated by the thermal motion of particles in matter. Thermal radiation is generated when heat from the movement of charges in the material (electrons and protons in common forms of matter) is ...
measurements made by the ''
Spitzer Spitzer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andre Spitzer (1945–1972), Israeli fencing coach and victim of the Munich massacre * Bernard Spitzer (1924–2014), American real estate developer and philanthropist, father of Eli ...
'' and '' Herschel'' space telescopes in 2006 and 2010. This thermal emission-derived diameter disagrees with the occultation-derived diameter; if both the thermal emission measurements and occultation-derived diameter are correct, then would be emitting more thermal radiation than predicted if it were a non-rotating, simple airless body. It is not yet clear why seems to be emitting excess thermal radiation; it could be possible that either there is an unknown satellite of contributing to the excess thermal emission, or the predictions for 's thermal emission behavior are inaccurate. The mass and density of is unknown since it has no known moons; otherwise, estimation of its mass would have been possible by Kepler's third law. Without a known mass and density, it is not possible to determine whether 's spheroidal shape is due to hydrostatic equilibrium, which would qualify it as a dwarf planet. Inferring from its diameter and albedo, is probably not in hydrostatic equilibrium since it lies within the diameter range where TNOs are typically observed with very low densities, presumably due to having highly porous interior structures that have not gravitationally compressed into solid bodies. Otherwise, if is in hydrostatic equilibrium, then its density could be estimated from its oblateness and rotation period. However, both of these properties are poorly known for , so only its minimum and maximum possible densities could be estimated. Assuming a
Maclaurin spheroid A Maclaurin spheroid is an oblate spheroid which arises when a self-gravitating fluid body of uniform density rotates with a constant angular velocity. This spheroid is named after the Scottish mathematician Colin Maclaurin, who formulated it for t ...
as the equilibrium shape for , the ranges of possible densities are and for possible rotation periods of 7.44 and 10.44 hours, respectively.


Surface

has a gray or spectrally neutral surface color, meaning it reflects similar amounts of light for wavelengths across the visible spectrum. In Barucci et al.'s classification scheme for TNO color indices, falls under the BB group of TNOs with neutral colors, whose surface compositions characteristically have a high fraction of water ice and amorphous carbon but low amounts of
tholin Tholins (after the Greek (') "hazy" or "muddy"; from the ancient Greek word meaning "sepia ink") are a wide variety of organic compounds formed by solar ultraviolet or cosmic ray irradiation of simple carbon-containing compounds such as carbon ...
s. Near-infrared
spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wa ...
by the
James Webb Space Telescope The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope which conducts infrared astronomy. As the largest optical telescope in space, its high resolution and sensitivity allow it to view objects too old, distant, or faint for the Hubble Spa ...
(JWST) in 2022 revealed the presence of crystalline water ice, amorphous water ice, and carbon dioxide ice in 's surface. The large Kuiper belt object
120347 Salacia 120347 Salacia, provisional designation , is a large planetoid in the Kuiper belt, approximately 850 kilometers in diameter. As of 2018, it is located 44.8 astronomical units from the Sun, and reaches apparent magnitude 20.7 at opposition. Salac ...
was observed by JWST to have a similar surface composition as . Preliminary modeling of 's JWST spectrum by Cook et al. suggests that the water ice on the object's surface consists of micrometer-sized grains and the carbon dioxide ice consists of a mix of coarser, micrometer-sized grains to finer, sub-micrometer-sized grains. Tholins should also exist on 's surface according to Cook et al.'s preliminary model, although they have not been detected in 's JWST spectrum. Volatile ices such as methane were also not detected in 's JWST spectrum. The lack of volatiles on 's surface agrees with its low geometric albedo of 0.1 determined from observations by the ''
New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe that was launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research ...
'' spacecraft, which indicates has a very dark and unevolved surface in contrast to the bright and volatile-rich dwarf planets like Pluto. ''New Horizons'' observations of 's phase curve indicate that the icy regolith grains on the object's surface are rough and irregularly shaped.


Topographic features

The 8 August 2020 occultation revealed massive topographic features along 's northeastern outline, or
limb Limb may refer to: Science and technology *Limb (anatomy), an appendage of a human or animal *Limb, a large or main branch of a tree *Limb, in astronomy, the curved edge of the apparent disk of a celestial body, e.g. lunar limb *Limb, in botany, ...
, which notably includes a crater-like depression wide and deep, and a ()-tall peak near the rim of the depression. Another depression feature about wide and deep was detected by a single telescope from Varages, France during the occultation; this depression feature partially occulted the star as emerged, which resulted in the star brightening gradually instead of instantly. The elevations of these observed topographic features lie beyond the maximum elevation of expected for an icy body of 's size, signifying that the object may have experienced a large impact in its past. It would be possible for to support its massive topographic features if its material strength increases toward its core. Topographic features on other TNOs have been previously observed through occultation, such as which has a depression feature at least deep. The topographic peak on has a height comparable to Mars's tallest mountain,
Olympus Mons Olympus Mons (; Latin for Mount Olympus) is a large shield volcano on Mars. The volcano has a height of over 21.9 km (13.6 mi or 72,000 ft) as measured by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA). Olympus Mons is about two and a h ...
, and the central mound of the Rheasilvia crater on asteroid Vesta. If 's topographic peak is a mountain, then it would qualify as one of the tallest known mountains in the Solar System. It is possible that this topographic peak may actually be an unknown -diameter satellite that was passing in front or behind during the occultation, but this scenario is unlikely according to Bruno Sicardy, one of the occultation team members. A satellite of this size would not be large enough to explain 's excess thermal emission. If 's massive depression is a crater, then it would be the first observation of a massive crater on a TNO. The depression's width takes up about 40% of 's diameter, which is comparable to the largest crater-to-diameter ratios seen in Saturn's moons Tethys and
Iapetus In Greek mythology, Iapetus (; ; grc, Ἰαπετός, Iapetós), also Japetus, is a Titan, the son of Uranus and Gaia and father of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius. He was also called the father of Buphagus and Anchiale in other ...
. For context, Tethys's largest crater
Odysseus Odysseus ( ; grc-gre, Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς, OdysseúsOdyseús, ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; lat, UlyssesUlixes), is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the ''Odyssey''. Odysse ...
takes up about 43% of its diameter, while Iapetus's largest crater Turgis takes up about 40% of its diameter, but they are much shallower than the purported crater. The trans-Neptunian dwarf planets Pluto and Charon do not exhibit such large craters on the other hand, as their largest crater-to-diameter ratios are 10.5% and 18.9%, respectively. The depth of 's massive depression takes up 5.7% of 's diameter and exceeds those seen in the largest craters of other Solar System bodies of comparable size: the largest crater of Saturn's moon
Mimas Mimas may refer to: *Mimas (Giant), son of Gaia in Greek mythology, one of the Gigantes * Mimas (''Aeneid''), a son of Amycus and Theono, born the same night as Paris, who escorted Aeneas to Italy *Karaburun, a town and district in Turkey, formerl ...
has a depth of up to and Vesta's Rheasilvia crater has a depth of up to .


Rotation and light curve

The
rotation period The rotation period of a celestial object (e.g., star, gas giant, planet, moon, asteroid) may refer to its sidereal rotation period, i.e. the time that the object takes to complete a single revolution around its axis of rotation relative to the ...
of is uncertain and its rotational axial tilt is unknown. It is difficult to measure 's rotation period photometrically with telescopes on Earth since the object is obscured in a dense field of background stars. Due to 's spheroidal shape and possible surface albedo variations, its light curve only exhibits very small fluctuations in brightness (amplitude 0.05–0.12 mag) over time as it rotates. The first attempts at measuring 's rotation were made with the Sierra Nevada Observatory's 1.5-meter telescope in August 2005, but it did not observe the object long enough to identify any periodicities in its light curve. Subsequent observations by the
Galileo National Telescope The Galileo National Telescope, ( it, Telescopio Nazionale Galileo; TNG; code: Z19) is a 3.58-meter Italian telescope, located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. The TNG is operated ...
in June–July 2011 took advantage of passing in front of a
dark nebula A dark nebula or absorption nebula is a type of interstellar cloud, particularly molecular clouds, that is so dense that it obscures the visible wavelengths of light from objects behind it, such as background stars and emission or reflection nebu ...
, which enabled it to determine possible periods of either 7.33 hours or 10.44 hours. On the other hand, observations by the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope in July–August 2013 measured a rotation period of 14.251 hours, with other less probable rotation period aliases of 8.932 and 5.881 hours.


Exploration


''New Horizons''

The ''
New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe that was launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research ...
'' spacecraft observed during 2016–2019, as part of its extended Kuiper belt mission after its successful Pluto flyby in 2015. was away from the spacecraft when it began observations on 13 July 2016, and was away from the spacecraft when it ended observations in 1 September 2019. ''New Horizons'' had the unique vantage point of observing and other TNOs while it was inside the Kuiper belt, which allowed the spacecraft to observe these objects at high phase angles (>2°) that are not observable from Earth. By observing how 's brightness changes as a function of phase angle, the object's phase curve could be determined, which can reveal the light
scattering Scattering is a term used in physics to describe a wide range of physical processes where moving particles or radiation of some form, such as light or sound, are forced to deviate from a straight trajectory by localized non-uniformities (including ...
properties of 's surface regolith. In addition to significantly improving the knowledge of 's phase curve, the observations by ''New Horizons'' also significantly improved the precision of 's orbit. File:2002 MS4 New Horizons.gif, imaged by the ''
New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe that was launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research ...
'' spacecraft in July 2016, from a distance of File:New Horizons KEM Trajectory.png, ''New Horizons'' trajectory through the Kuiper belt, with positions of nearby KBOs including labeled


Proposed

has been considered as a possible exploration target for future missions to the Kuiper belt and beyond, such as NASA's '' Interstellar Probe'' concept. A 2019 study by Amanda Zangari and collaborators identified several possible trajectories to for a spacecraft that would be launched in 2025–2040. For a spacecraft launched in 2027–2031, a single gravity assist from Jupiter could bring a spacecraft to over a minimum duration of 9.1–12.8 years, depending on the excess launch energy of the spacecraft. Another trajectory using a single Jupiter gravity assist for a 2040 launch date could bring a spacecraft to over a minimum duration of 13 years. A 2038–2040 launch trajectory using a single Saturn gravity assist could bring a spacecraft to over a minimum duration of 16.7 years, while a 2038–2040 launch trajectory using two gravity assists from Jupiter and Saturn could bring a spacecraft to over a minimum duration of 18.6–19.5 years.


See also

* List of Solar System objects by size


Notes


References


External links


Precovery Images
Andrew Lowe * {{DEFAULTSORT:2002 MS4 307261 Discoveries by Michael E. Brown Discoveries by Chad Trujillo 307261 Objects observed by stellar occultation 20020618