is a large trans-Neptunian object from the scattered disc located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It is one of the most distant objects from the Sun at 60.5 AU. It was discovered by astronomers with the Canada–France Ecliptic Plane Survey at Mauna Kea Observatories, Hawaii, when it was near aphelion on 31 August 2003. It was provisionally designated .

Orbit and classification

orbits the Sun at a distance of 37.7–62.2 AU once every 353 years and 1 month (128,966 days;

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 ...

of 49.96 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.25 and an inclination of 7 ° with respect to the ecliptic. It is classified as a

scattered disc object 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 objec ...

, or "near-scattered" object in the classification of 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 sur ...

, that still gravitationally interacts with

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 ...

(30.1 AU) due to its relatively low perihelion of 37.7 AU, contrary to the extended-scattered/

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 (perihelion ...

s and

sednoid A sednoid is a trans-Neptunian object with a perihelion well beyond the Kuiper cliff at . Only four objects are known from this population: 90377 Sedna, , 541132 Leleākūhonua (), and , but it is suspected that there are many more. All four ha ...

s which never approach Neptune as close. It has also been described as a "detached classical belt object" by the discovering Canada–France Ecliptic Plane Survey (CFEPS), that are objects with a semi-major axis beyond the 2:1 mean-motion resonance (i.e. beyond the

twotino In astronomy, a resonant trans-Neptunian object is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) in mean-motion orbital resonance with Neptune. The orbital periods of the resonant objects are in a simple integer relations with the period of Neptune, e.g. 1:2, 2 ...

population at 47.8 AU) and with an eccentricity larger than 0.24. It was furthest object discovered in CFEPS.

Most distant objects from the Sun

last came to perihelion around 1882, moving away from the Sun ever since and is currently about 60.5 AU from the Sun, which is further away than the dwarf planet , and will reach its aphelion around 2058. Its current distance makes it one of the most distant known minor planets in the Solar System ''(also see )''.

Physical characteristics

Based on a generic magnitude-to-diameter conversion, measures approximately in diameter, for an assumed albedo of 0.9 and an magnitude of 5.1. , no rotational lightcurve for this object has been obtained from photometric observations. The body's

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 ...

, pole and shape remain unknown.

References

External links

List Of Centaurs and Scattered-Disk Objects
Minor Planet Center

(Michael Richmond) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:2003 QX113 612584 612584 612584 20030831

Orbit and classification

Most distant objects from the Sun

Physical characteristics

See also

References

External links