Centaur
In planetary astronomy, a centaur is a small Solar System body with either a perihelion or a semi-major axis between those of the outer planets (between Jupiter and Neptune). Centaurs typically exhibit the characteristics of both asteroids and comets. They are named after the mythological centaurs that were a mixture of horse and human.
In Greek mythology, Chiron was held to be the superlative centaur amongst his brethren since he was called the "wisest and justest of all the centaurs".
1977 UB/2060 Chiron is a minor planet in the outer Solar System, orbiting between Saturn and Uranus. Discovered October 18, 1977 by Charles T. Kowal (precovery images have been found as far back as 1895), it was the first-identified member of a new class of objects now known as centaurs (minor planets orbiting between the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt).
Besides the four gas giants, Chiron and 10199 Chariklo, also a centaur, are the only bodies in the Solar System known to have rings.
Although it was initially called an asteroid and classified only as a minor planet with the designation "2060 Chiron", it was later found to exhibit behavior typical of a comet. Today it is classified as both a minor planet and a comet, and is accordingly also known by the cometary designation "95P/Chiron".
Chiron is named after the centaur Chiron in Greek mythology. Michael Brown lists it as possibly a dwarf planet with a measured diameter of 206 km, which is near the lower limit for an icy dwarf planet (around 200 km).
1992 AD/5145 Pholus is a centaur in an eccentric orbit, with a perihelion less than Saturn's and aphelion greater than Neptune's. It is believed that Pholus originated in the Kuiper belt.
It was discovered by David L. Rabinowitz, then of the University of Arizona's Spacewatch Project, and named after Pholus, the brother of the mythological Chiron, after which 2060 Chiron was named, in order to follow the tradition of naming this class of outer planet-crossing objects after centaurs.
Pholus was the second centaur to be discovered and was quickly found to be quite red in color, for which it has been occasionally nicknamed "Big Red". The color has been speculated to be due to organic compounds on its surface. Discovery date 9 January 1992
1993 HA2/7066 Nessus is a centaur (a type of icy minor planet) that was discovered by David L. Rabinowitz, working with Spacewatch, at Kitt Peak on 26 April 1993. It was the second centaur found by him (5145 Pholus being his previous find), and the third centaur discovery (2060 Chiron, discovered by Charles Kowal in 1977, was the first).
7066 Nessus has an orbital period of 122.4 years, an eccentricity of 0.52 and an inclination to the ecliptic of 15.6 degrees. At perihelion, it moves much closer to the Sun than Uranus, while at aphelion it moves out well beyond the orbit of Neptune.
This minor planet was named after Nessus, a centaur from Greek mythology, who poisoned and was killed by the divine hero Heracles.
1995 DW2/10370 Hylonome is a small Solar System body orbiting in the outer Solar System. It belongs to the class of icy objects that are known as centaurs, with an orbit that crosses the orbit of Neptune and grazes that of Uranus. It was discovered on February 27, 1995.
10370 Hylonome was named for Hylonome, a female centaur in Greek mythology. Hylonome was present at the battle against the Lapiths, where she lost her husband, the centaur Cyllarus, whom she loved very much. Heartbroken, she then took her own life to join him.
The orbits of centaurs are unstable due to perturbations by the giant planets. Currently Uranus controls Hylonome's perihelion and Neptune its aphelion. It is estimated to have a relatively long orbital half-life of about 6.37 Myr (million years). In the year 3478, Hylonome will pass within ~85 Gm of Uranus and its semi-major axis will be reduced to 23.5 AU.
1995 GO/8405 Asbolus is a centaur orbiting between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune. It was discovered by James Scotti and Robert Jedicke of Spacewatch at Kitt Peak Observatory on April 5, 1995. It is named after Asbolus (Greek for sooty), a centaur in Greek mythology.
Centaurs have short dynamical lifetimes due to perturbations by the giant planets. Asbolus is estimated to have an orbital half-life of about 860 kiloannum. Asbolus is currently classified as a SN centaur since Saturn is considered to control the perihelion and Neptune controls the aphelion. Asbolus currently has a perihelion (q) of 6.8AU, so is also influenced by Jupiter.
Centaurs with a perihelion less than 6.6AU are very strongly influenced by Jupiter and for classification purposes are considered to have a perihelion under the control of Jupiter. In about ten thousand years, clones of the orbit of Asbolus suggest that its perihelion classification may come under the control of Jupiter.
1997 CU26/10199 Chariklo is the largest confirmed centaur. It orbits the Sun between Saturn and Uranus, grazing the orbit of Uranus. On 26 March 2014, astronomers announced the discovery of two rings (nicknamed Oiapoque and Chui), around Chariklo by observing a stellar occultation, making it the first known minor planet to have rings.
Chariklo was discovered by James V. Scotti of the Spacewatch program on February 15, 1997. Chariklo is named after the nymph Chariclo the wife of Chiron and the daughter of Apollo.
Centaurs originated in the Kuiper belt and are in dynamically unstable orbits that will lead to ejection from the Solar System, an impact with a planet or the Sun, or transition into a short-period comet.
49036 Pelion is named for Mount Pelion, the mountain in Greece's Thessaly region where in Greek mythology the Centaurs live.
1998 QM107/49036 Pelion, a member of the Centaur class of asteroids which orbits among the gas giants, was discovered on August 21, 1998 by Robert J. Whiteley and David J. Tholen at the observatory atop Mauna Kea, near Kamuela, Hawaii. It has a period of 89 years, 21 days.
In Greek mythology, Mount Pelion (which took its name from the mythical king Peleus, father of Achilles) was the homeland of Chiron the Centaur, tutor of many ancient Greek heroes, such as Jason, Achilles, Theseus and Heracles.
On Mount Pelion, near Chiron's cave, the marriage of Thetis and Peleus took place. The uninvited goddess Eris, to take revenge for having been kept outside the party, brought a golden apple with the inscription "To the Fairest". The dispute that then arose between the goddesses Hera, Aphrodite and Athena resulted in events leading to the Trojan War.
1998 SG35/52872 Okyrhoe is a centaur orbiting in the outer Solar System between Jupiter and Saturn. It was discovered on 19 September 1998, by the Spacewatch survey at Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona, United States, and named after Ocyrhoe from Greek mythology.
Of objects listed as a centaur by the Minor Planet Center (MPC), JPL and the Deep Ecliptic Survey (DES), Okyrhoe has the second smallest perihelion distance of a numbered centaur. Numbered centaur (315898) 2008 QD4 has a smaller perihelion distance.
Ocyrhoe was a daughter of Chiron and Chariclo. Ocyrhoe was transformed into a horse because she told her father Chiron his exact fate. She revealed that he would forsake his immortality to be spared the agonizing pain of a serpent's poison. For this transgression, Ocyrhoe's ability to speak was taken.
1998 TF35/52975 Cyllarus is a very red centaur, approximately 62 kilometers (39 miles) in diameter, orbiting the Sun in the outer Solar System. It was discovered on 12 October 1998, by American astronomer Nichole Danzl at the Kitt Peak National Observatory near Sells, Arizona, in the United States. It was later named after the mythological centaur Cyllarus.
Cyllarus was a centaur in Greek mythology. He was handsome and valiant, and dearly loved his centaur wife Hylonome. He participated in the battle against the Lapiths and was fatally wounded by a spear. He died in the arms of his beloved wife, who then took her own life shortly afterwards to join him.
1999 UG5/31824 Elatus is a dark centaur from the outer Solar System, approximately 48 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 29 October 1999, by astronomers of the Catalina Sky Survey at Mount Lemmon Observatory in Arizona, United States. The minor planet was named after Elatus, a centaur from Greek mythology.
This minor planet was named after Elatus, a centaur from Greek mythology, who was killed during a battle with Heracles by a poisoned arrow that passed through his arm and continued to wound Chiron in the knee. The name "Elatus" means "fir man" and is associated with woodlands. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 14 June 2003 (M.P.C. 49102).
1999 XX143/121725 Aphidas was discovered on December 13, 1999 by Carl W. Hergenrother at Whipple Observatory near Amado, Arizona and named for one of the Centaurs killed at the wedding of Pirithous, King of the Lapiths.
Aphidas (or Apheidas) is a centaur from Greek mythology who remained in a drunken sleep during the battle between the Centaurs and Lapiths The Lapith Phorbas killed Aphidas with a thrown spear while he slept.
It has an orbit of 76 years, 205 days, an inclination to the ecliptic of 6.76841, and an orbital eccentricity of 0.46285227. The elongated orbit sends it out past Uranus at aphelion (26.30 AU), and just inside Saturn's orbit at perihelion (9.66 AU).
2000 EC98/60558 Echeclus is a centaur, approximately 84 kilometers (52 miles) in diameter, located in the outer Solar System. It was discovered by Spacewatch on March 3, 2000 and initially classified as a minor planet.
Research in 2001 by Rousselot and Petit at the Besancon observatory in France showed no evidence of cometary activity, but in late December 2005 a cometary coma was detected. In early 2006 the Committee on Small Bodies Nomenclature (CSBN) gave it the cometary designation 174P/Echeclus. It next comes to perihelion in April 2015, and is expected to reach about apparent magnitude 16.7 near opposition in September 2015.
60558 Echeclus is only the second comet (after Chiron) that was named as an asteroid, rather than after the name of its discoverer. Chiron is also a centaur; other centaurs are being observed for signs of a cometary coma.
On 30 December 2005, when 13.1 AU from the Sun, a large chunk of Echeclus was observed to break off, causing a great cloud of dust. Astronomers have speculated this could have been caused by an impact or by an explosive release of volatile substances.
2000 QC243/54598 Bienor is a centaur that grazes the orbit of Uranus. It is named after the mythological Centaur Bienor, a Centaur at the wedding of Pirithous and Hippodamia, killed by Theseus in the ensuing battle.
Discovery date 27 August 2000. Its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is 13.2 AU. As of 2015, Bienor is currently 15.8 AU from the Sun and will reach perihelion in January 2028.
2001 PT13/32532 Thereus is a centaur from the outer Solar System, approximately 80 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 9 August 2001, by astronomers of the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking program at the Palomar Observatory in California, United States. This minor planet was named after Thereus, a centaur from Greek mythology.
This minor planet was named after Thereus, a centaur from Greek mythology. He is described as a hunter who captured bears and carried them home, alive and struggling. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 14 June 2003 (M.P.C. 49102).
2002 GB10/55576 Amycus is a centaur discovered on April 8, 2002, by the NEAT at Palomar. 55576 Amycus was named for Amycus, a male centaur in Greek mythology.
Amycus was the son of Ophion. There is not much known about Amycus but he is said to have involvement in the Centauromachy; which was a battle between the centaurs and the Lapith people; this battle is what the centaurs are best known for.
The battle took place during the wedding of the King of the Lapithae, Pirithous and Hippodamia. Amycus involvement in this battle is recognized in the Metamorphoses written by the Roman poet Ovid. In this it is noted that Amycus along with many other centaurs were invited and attended the wedding that turned in to a bloody battle.
The centaurs become drunk of wine and attempted to take Hippodamia along with other Lapith women as they pleased. Eurytus a centaur that could not control himself when the bride, Hippodamia, was presented; he attempted to kidnap and rape her. He inspired all the drunken centaurs to attack and violate the Lapith women as they could.
Theseus a friend of Pirithous stopped the centaur Eurytus unilimally killing him resulting in the first blood of the battle.
Amycus's role in this battle is of great importance; he was responsible for the first death of one of the Lapith people. Driven with anger due to the death of the loved centaur Eurytus, Amycus smashed the head of innocent Lapith Celadon with a candlestick.
Pelates from Pella clubbed him to death using a leg from a maple table, sending Amycus down to the underworld Tartarus. These were the first deaths of the battle between the centaurs and the Lapith people. The Lapiths ultimately defeated the centaurs and drove them from Thessaly to the northwest.
2002 GO9/83982 Crantor is a centaur in a 1:1 mean-motion resonance with Uranus. (83982) 2002 GO9 was discovered on April 12, 2002 by the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) program at Palomar. It is named after the Lapith Crantor.
In Greek mythology, Crantor was a Lapith and the armour-bearer for Peleus. He was killed by the centaur Demoleon in the battle between the Lapiths and the Centaurs that followed Pirithous' wedding, the rape of Pirithous' bride, Hippodamia, and the execution of her rapist, the centaur Eurytus. Demoleon fatally wounded Crantor after he tore off Crantor's chest and left shoulder with a tree trunk that Demoleon had thrown at Theseus, who ducked out of the way. The minor planet 83982 Crantor bears his name.
2009 HW77/330836 Orius is a centaur discovered on the 25th of April, 2009. It was named after the centaur Orius, who was killed by Heracles for stealing wine of Pholos.
His orbit is around 100.4591 years, with an eccentricity of 0.42218501, and an inclination to the ecliptic 17.86873. It's perihelion is between Saturn and Uranus, it's aphelion out past Neptune, so it crosses both Uranus' and Neptune's orbits.
Pholus was given a vessel of wine to take care of by Dionysus. Now when the jar had been opened and the sweet odour of the wine, because of its great age and strength, came to the Centaurs dwelling near there, it came to pass that they were driven mad; consequently they rushed in a body to the dwelling of Pholus and set about plundering him of the wine in a terrifying manner.
At this Pholus hid himself in fear, but Heracles, to their surprise, grappled with those who were employing such violence. He had indeed to struggle with beings who were gods on their mother's side, who possessed the swiftness of horses, who had the strength of two bodies, and enjoyed in addition the experience and wisdom of men.
The Centaurs advanced upon him, some with pine trees which they had plucked up together with the roots, others with great rocks, some with burning firebrands, and still others with axes such as are used to slaughter oxen. But he withstood them without sign of fear and maintained a battle which was worthy of his former exploits.
The Centaurs were aided in their struggle by their mother Nephele,who sent down a heavy rain, by which she gave no trouble to those who had four legs, but for him who was supported upon two made the footing slippery. Despite all this Heracles maintained an astonishing struggle with those who enjoyed such advantages as these, slew the larger part of them, and forced the survivors to flee.
Of the Centaurs which were killed the most renowned were Daphnis, Argeius, Amphion, also Hippotion, Orius, Isoples, Melanchaetes, and Thereus, Doupon, and Phrixus.
There are at least two other individuals mentioned in mythology with the same name. One was a mountain god of Mount Othrys in Malis. The other was a man-eating, half-bear Thracian giant. He and his twin brother were transformed into birds by Hermes as punishment for their cruel barbarity.
2009 QV38/346889 Rhiphonos (Riphonus), one of the Lamian centaurs in Greek mythology. He is one of the twelve rustic spirits of the Lamos river set by Zeus to guard the infant Dionysos. Later, Riphonus joined Dionysus in his campaign against India. Discovery date August 28, 2009.
One of the 12 Dionysian Centaurs. His name means 'Throwing'. The other 11 were Amphithemis, Aisakos, Orthaon, Petraios, Phaunos, Phanes, Keteus, Gleneus, Eurybios, Spargeus and Nomeion.
Trans-Neptunian object
A trans-Neptunian object (TNO) 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). The first trans-Neptunian object to be discovered was Pluto in 1930. It took until 1992 to discover a second trans-Neptunian object orbiting the Sun directly, 15760 Albion. The most massive TNO known is Eris, followed by Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Gonggong.
In the mythology of William Blake, Albion is the primeval man whose fall and division results in the Four Zoas: Urizen, Tharmas, Luvah and Urthona.
1992 QB1/15760 Albion was the first trans-Neptunian object to be discovered after Pluto and Charon. It was discovered in 1992 by David C. Jewitt and Jane X. Luu at the Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii. It is a classical Kuiper belt object and gave rise to the name cubewano for this kind of object, after the QB1 portion of its designation.
Decoding its provisional designation, "QB1" reveals that it was the 27th object found in the second half of August of that year. As of January 2018, over 2,400 further objects have been found beyond Neptune, a good number of which are classical Kuiper belt objects.
The discoverers suggested the name "Smiley" for (15760) 1992 QB1, but the name was already used for an asteroid 1613 Smiley, named after the American astronomer Charles Hugh Smiley. It has received the number 15760 and remained unnamed until January 2018 (it was normally referred to simply as "QB1", even though this was technically ambiguous without the year of discovery). It was named after Albion from William Blake's mythology.
1994 JR1/15810 Arawn is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) from the inner regions of the Kuiper belt, approximately 133 kilometres (83 mi) in diameter. It belongs to the plutinos, the largest class of resonant TNOs. It was named after Arawn, the ruler of the Celtic underworld, and discovered on 12 May 1994, by astronomers Michael Irwin and Anna Zytkow with the 2.5-metre Isaac Newton Telescope at La Palma Observatory in the Canary Islands, Spain.
Arawn is unique in that it has been observed at a much closer distance than most Kuiper belt objects, by the New Horizons spacecraft, which imaged it a distance of 111 million km (69 million mi; 0.74 AU) in April 2016; this and its other observations have allowed its rotation period to be determined.
1997 CS29/79360 Sila-Nunam is a double classical Kuiper belt object (cubewano) with components of almost equal size, orbiting beyond Neptune in the Solar System. The name of the system is the combined names of the two bodies, Sila and Nunam.
Sila-Nunam was discovered on 3 February 1997 by Jane X. Luu, David C. Jewitt, Chad Trujillo, and Jun Chen at the Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii. It was resolved as a binary system in Hubble observations of 22 October 2002 by Denise C. Stephens and Keith S. Noll and announced, under the designation S/2005 (79360) 1, on 5 October 2005.
The two components are named after Inuit deities. Sila "spirit" is the Inuit god of the sky, weather, and life force. Nunam "earth" is the Earth goddess, in some traditions Sila's wife. Nunam created the land animals and, in some traditions, the Inuit people (in other traditions Sila created the first people out of wet sand). Sila breathed life into the Inuit.
1997 CQ29/58534 Logos is a small Kuiper-belt object, more specifically a cubewano, notable for having a comparatively large satellite named Zoe. In the Gnostic tradition, Logos and Zoe are a paired emanation of the deity, and part of its creation myth.
Logos is a binary with the components of comparable size orbiting the barycentre on a moderately elliptical orbit. Discovery date February 4, 1997. After the discovery, it received the provisional designation S/2001 (58534) 1. Once confirmed it was officially named (58534) Logos. Logos' companion was discovered on 17 November 2001
1998 WH24/19521 Chaos is a cubewano, a Kuiper-belt object not in resonance with any planet. It is a likely dwarf planet. Chaos was discovered 19 November 1998 by the Deep Ecliptic Survey with Kitt Peak's 4 m telescope. It is named after the primeval state of existence in Greek mythology, from which the first gods appeared.
19521 Chaos has an orbital period of approximately 309 years. Its orbit is not much more eccentric than the orbit of Pluto. 19521 Chaos's orbit is inclined approximately 12 degrees to the ecliptic. Its orbit never crosses the orbit of Neptune.
1999 HX11/38083 Rhadamanthus is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO). It was originally thought to be a plutino but no longer is. Rhadamanthus was discovered on 17 April 1999 by the Deep Ecliptic Survey.
Rhadamanthus is named after the Greek mythological figure. The name was announced in the circular of the Minor Planet Center of 24 July 2002, which stated Rhadamanthus was a son of Zeus and Europa. Because of his just and upright life, after death he was appointed a judge of the dead and the ruler of Elysium, a blissfully beautiful area of the Underworld where those favored by the gods spent their life after death.
1999 HU11/53311 Deucalion is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO). It was discovered in 1999 by the Deep Ecliptic Survey (DES). It is a cubewano, and named after Deucalion, from Greek mythology.
This minor planet was named from Greek mythology after Deucalion, son of Prometheus. He and his wife Pyrrha were the only ones that survived the great deluge ("the flood of Deucalion") brought upon all humans by Zeus. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 14 June 2003 (M.P.C. 49102).
1999 RZ253/66652 Borasisi is a binary classical Kuiper belt object. It was discovered on September 8, 1999 by Chad Trujillo, Jane X. Luu and David C. Jewitt and identified as a binary in 2003 by K. Noll and colleagues using the Hubble Telescope.
The companion (66652) Borasisi I, named Pabu orbits its primary in 46.2888 +- 0.0018 days on an orbit with semi-major axis of 4528 +- 12 km and eccentricity 0.4700 +- 0.0018. The orbit is inclined with respect to the observer by about 54 degrees meaning that is about 35 degrees from the pole-on position.
The surface of both components of the Borasisi-Pabu system is very red.
Borasisi is named after a fictional creation deity taken from the novel Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. In the book, Borasisi is the Sun and Pabu is the name of the Moon.
Borasisi, the sun, held Pabu, the moon, in his arms and hoped that Pabu would bear him a fiery child. But poor Pabu gave birth to children that were cold, that did not burn... Then poor Pabu herself was cast away, and she went to live with her favorite child, which was Earth.
1999 TC36/47171 Lempo is a trans-Neptunian object and trinary system from the Kuiper belt, located in the outermost regions of the Solar System. It was discovered on 1 October 1999, by American astronomers Eric Rubenstein and Louis-Gregory Strolger during an observing run at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, United States.
It is classified as a plutino with a 2:3 mean-motion resonance with Neptune, and, currently only being 30.5 AU from the Sun, is among the brighter TNOs. It reached perihelion in July 2015.
This minor planet was named after Lempo from Finnish mythology. Originally worshiped as the god of love and fertility, he was later depicted as devil, after Christianity came to Finland. Lempo brought down the hero Vainamoinen with the help of his two demon cohorts Hiisi and Paha. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 5 October 2017 (M.P.C. 106502). The trinary system's other two components, Paha and Hiisi, were discovered in 2001 and 2007, respectively, and later named after Lempo's two demon cohorts, Paha and Hiisi. The words "lempo" and "hiisi" are also used as very mild swear words in the Finnish language. "Piru" is a slightly stronger swear word. This is also work of Christians, they weren't originally bad words.
2000 EB173/38628 Huya is a binary trans-Neptunian object located in the Kuiper belt, a region of icy objects orbiting beyond Neptune in the outer Solar System. Huya is classified as a plutino, a dynamical class of trans-Neptunian objects with orbits in a 3:2 orbital resonance with Neptune. It was discovered by the Quasar Equatorial Survey Team and was identified by Venezuelan astronomer Ignacio Ferrin in March 2000. It is named after Juya, the mythological rain god of the Wayuu people native to South America.
Huya has one known natural satellite, designated S/2012 (38628) 1. The satellite is relatively large compared to Huya and is expected to have slowed its rotation, although measurements of Huya's brightness variations have indicated that Huya's rotation may not be synchronous with the satellite's orbit.
2000 WR106/20000 Varuna is a large classical Kuiper belt object. It is probably a dwarf planet. It rotates rapidly and hence its shape is probably very elongated.
Varuna was discovered on 28 November 2000 by Robert McMillan of Spacewatch and has been precovered in plates dating back to 1954.
Varuna is named after a Hindu deity. Varuna was one of the most important deities of the ancient Indians, and he presided over the waters of the heaven and of the ocean and was the guardian of immortality. Due to his association with the waters and the ocean, he is often identified with Greek Poseidon and Roman Neptune. Varuna received the minor planet number 20000 because it was the largest cubewano found so far and was believed to be as large as Ceres.
2001 KX76/28978 Ixion is a plutino (an object that has a 2:3 orbital resonance with Neptune). It is very likely to be a dwarf planet, although the IAU has not officially classified it as such. Light-curve-amplitude analysis shows only small deviations, which suggests that Ixion is a spheroid with small albedo spots and hence a dwarf planet.
It has a diameter of approximately 650 km, making it about the fifth-largest plutino. It is moderately red in visible light and has a surface made of a mixture of tholin and water ice.
It was discovered on May 22, 2001 by the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. It is named after Ixion, a figure from Greek mythology.
2001 QT297/88611 Teharonhiawako is a trans-Neptunian object and a member of the Kuiper belt, measuring 156-196 km in diameter. It is a binary object, with a large companion named Sawiskera which at 108-136 km in diameter is about two-thirds the size of its primary.
Teharonhiawako was discovered on August 20, 2001, by the Deep Ecliptic Survey, and Sawiskera was identified a month later. The primary is named after Teharonhia:wako, a god of maize in the Iroquois creation myth, while the secondary is named after his evil twin brother Sawiskera. The objects were named in 2007.
Much of the mythology of the Iroquois (a confederacy of originally Five, later Six Nations of Native Americans) has been lost. Some of their religious stories have been preserved, including creation stories and some folktales. Written down later, the spellings of names differed, and different versions of many stories exist reflecting both different localities and different times. It is possible that the versions that were recorded were influenced by Christianity.
Each village had its own storyteller who was responsible for learning all the stories by heart. No stories were ever told during the summer months. Violations would be punished by the Jo-ga-oh, and if the violator ignored the warning he would suffer greater evils.
2001 UQ18/148780 Altjira is a binary classical Kuiper belt object (cubewano). The secondary, S/2007 (148780) 1, is large compared to the primary, 140 kilometres (87 mi) vs. 160 kilometres (99 mi). The Altjiran lightcurve is quite flat, which is indicative of a "quasi-spherical body with a homogeneous surface". Discovery date 20 October 2001.
It was named after the Arrernte creation deity, Altjira, who created the Earth during the Dreamtime and then retired to the sky.
2002 CR46/42355 Typhon is a scattered disc object that was discovered on February 5, 2002, by the NEAT program. It measures 162+-7 km in diameter, and is named after Typhon, a monster in Greek mythology.
A large moon was identified in 2006. It is named Echidna-formal designation (42355). Echidna, the monstrous mate of Typhon. It orbits Typhon at ~1300 km, completing one orbit in about 11 days. Its diameter is estimated to be 89+-6 km. Typhon is the first known binary centaur, using an extended definition of a centaur as an object on a non-resonant (unstable) orbit with the perihelion inside the orbit of Neptune.
2002 LM60/50000 Quaoar is a Kuiper belt object roughly half the size of Pluto, with a diameter of 1110 +- 5 km. It is large enough and massive enough that it is probably a dwarf planet. Its orbit in the Kuiper belt is not in resonance with Neptune, which means it is a classical Kuiper belt object. Quaoar has one known moon, Weywot.
Quaoar was discovered in 2002 and its moon in 2007. It was named after the Tongva creator deity and its moon after his son.
Signs of water ice have been found, which suggests that cryovolcanism may be occurring. A small amount of methane is present on Quaoar's surface, which can only be retained by the largest Kuiper belt objects.
Quaoar is named for the Tongva creator god, following International Astronomical Union naming conventions for non-resonant Kuiper belt objects. The Tongva are the native people of the area around Los Angeles, where the discovery of Quaoar was made. Quaoar was discovered on June 4, 2002.
Because Quaoar is a binary object, the mass of the system can be calculated from the orbit of the secondary. Quaoar's estimated density of around 2.2 g/cm3 and estimated size of 1,100 km suggests that it is a dwarf planet.
Light-curve-amplitude analysis shows only small deviations, suggesting that Quaoar is indeed a spheroid with small albedo spots and hence a dwarf planet.
Quaoar orbits at about 43.3 astronomical units (6.48x109 km; 4.02x109 mi) from the Sun with an orbital period of 284.5 years. Its orbit is nearly circular and moderately inclined at approximately 8 degrees, typical for the population of small classical Kuiper-belt objects (KBO) but exceptional among the large KBO.
Pluto, Makemake, Haumea, Orcus, Varuna, and Salacia are all on highly inclined, more eccentric orbits.
2003 FX128/65489 Ceto is a binary trans-Neptunian object (TNO) discovered on March 22, 2003 by Chad A. Trujillo and Michael Brown at Palomar. It is named after the sea goddess Ceto from Greek mythology. It came to perihelion in 1989.
65489 Ceto is an example of a close binary TNO system in which the components are of similar size. Combined observations with the infrared Spitzer Space Telescope and the Hubble Telescope allow the diameter of Ceto itself to be estimated at 174 km and the diameter of Phorcys at 132 km, assuming equal albedo for both components.
Ceto (Ancient Greek: Keto, "sea monster"), is a primordial sea goddess in Greek mythology, the daughter of Gaia and Pontus. As a mythological figure, she is most notable for bearing by Phorcys a host of monstrous children. The small solar system body 65489 Ceto was named after her, and its satellite after Phorcys.
Ceto was also variously called Crataeis (Krataiis, "mighty") and Trienus (Trienos, "within three years"), and was occasionally conflated by scholars with the goddess Hecate (for whom Crataeis and Trienus are also epithets).
This goddess should not be confused with the minor Oceanid also named Ceto, or with various mythological beings referred to as ketos (plural ketea); this is a general term for "sea monster" in Ancient Greek.
2003 MW12/174567 Varda is a trans-Neptunian object with an absolute magnitude of 3.5. It is highly likely to be a dwarf planet. It was discovered on June 21, 2003 by Jeffrey A. Larsen with the Spacewatch telescope. Names for Varda and its moon were announced on 16 January 2014.
Varda was one of the Valar, a group of heavenly beings similar to Archangels. Also known as "Queen of the stars", she was said to be too beautiful for words; within her face radiated the light of Eru Iluvatar, the "One All-Father" God. She resided with her husband Manwe, with whom she shared a complementary power.
2003 QW111/385446 Manwe is a binary resonant Kuiper belt object in a 4:7 mean-motion resonance with Neptune. It was discovered on 25 August 2003, by American astronomer Marc Buie at Cerro Tololo Observatory in northern Chile.
The secondary, Thorondor, formally (385446) Manwe I Thorondor, is estimated to be about half the size of the primary, 33-53 km vs. 58-92 km. The light curve has considerable photometric variability, with the relative magnitude of the two objects measured variously from 0.6-2.1 over the course of a few years
Manwe was discovered on 25 August 2003 by M. W. Buie at Cerro Tololo as a part of the Deep Ecliptic Survey. The object was named after Manwe, the fictional king of the Valar in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. Manwe is foremost among the great spirits who rule the world. Manwe takes special responsibility for the air and winds. Thorondor is the Lord of Eagles in the First Age in Tolkien's writing.
Manwe has significant and irregular photometric variability, demonstrating that its components are not tidally locked. The surfaces of Manwe and Thorondor appear to be very red. The composition of Manwe is unknown but likely to be mostly ice, because the nominal density (with large uncertainty) is less than that of water. At least one other Kuiper belt object, (55637) 2002 UX25, has been found with a density of less than 1 g/cm3, which implies an object made mostly of ice with a low rock fraction and high porosity.
2003 VB12/90377 Sedna is a large minor planet in the outer reaches of the Solar System that was, as of 2015, at a distance of about 86 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun, about three times as far as Neptune. Spectroscopy has revealed that Sedna's surface composition is similar to that of some other trans-Neptunian objects, being largely a mixture of water, methane, and nitrogen ices with tholins. Its surface is one of the reddest among Solar System objects. It is most likely a dwarf planet.
For most of its orbit, it is even farther from the Sun than at present, with its aphelion estimated at 937 AU (31 times Neptune's distance), making it one of the most distant known objects in the Solar System other than long-period comets.
Sedna has an exceptionally long and elongated orbit, taking approximately 11,400 years to complete and a distant point of closest approach to the Sun at 76 AU. These facts have led to much speculation about its origin. The Minor Planet Center currently places Sedna in the scattered disc, a group of objects sent into highly elongated orbits by the gravitational influence of Neptune. However, this classification has been contested, because Sedna never comes close enough to Neptune to have been scattered by it, leading some astronomers to conclude that it is in fact the first known member of the inner Oort cloud. Others speculate that it might have been tugged into its current orbit by a passing star, perhaps one within the Sun's birth cluster (an open cluster), or even that it was captured from another star system.
2004 DW/90482 Orcus is a Kuiper belt object with a large moon, Vanth. It was discovered on February 17, 2004. images as early as November 8, 1951 were later identified. Orcus is a plutino, locked in a 2:3 resonance with Neptune, making two revolutions around the Sun to every three of Neptune's. This is much like Pluto, except that it is constrained to always be in the opposite phase of its orbit from Pluto: Orcus is at aphelion when Pluto is at perihelion and vice versa.
The minor planet Orcus was named after one of the Roman gods of the underworld, Orcus. While Pluto (of Greek origin) was the ruler of the underworld, Orcus (of Etruscan origin) was a punisher of the condemned.
2004 SB60/120347 Salacia is a large planetoid in the Kuiper belt. It was discovered on 22 September 2004 by Henry G. Roe, Michael E. Brown and Kristina M. Barkume at the Palomar Observatory. It is almost certainly a dwarf planet. Salacia's diameter is estimated to be about 850 kilometres (530 mi) due to a low albedo. It has been observed 100 times, with precovery images back to 1982. Salacia orbits the Sun at an average distance that is slightly larger than that of Pluto. It has a single known moon, Actaea.
It was named Salacia on 18 February 2011, after Salacia, the goddess of salt water and the wife of Neptune. The moon's name, Actaea was assigned on the same date. Actaea is a nereid or sea nymph.
The god Neptune wanted to marry Salacia, but she was in great awe of her distinguished suitor, and to preserve her virginity, with grace and celerity she managed to glide out of his sight, and hid from him in the Atlantic Ocean. The grieving Neptune sent a dolphin to look for her and persuade the fair nymph to come back and share his throne. Salacia agreed to marry Neptune and the King of the Deep was so overjoyed at these good tidings that the dolphin was awarded a place in the heavens, where he now forms a well known constellation Delphinus.
Salacia is represented as a beautiful nymph, crowned with seaweed, either enthroned beside Neptune or driving with him in a pearl shell chariot drawn by dolphins, sea-horses (hippocamps) or other fabulous creatures of the deep, and attended by Tritons and Nereids. She is dressed in queenly robes and has nets in her hair.
Salacia was the personification of the calm and sunlit aspect of the sea. Derived from Latin sal, meaning "salt", the name Salacia denotes the wide, open sea, and is sometimes literally translated to mean sensational.
As his wife, Salacia bore Neptune three children, the most celebrated being Triton, whose body was half man and half fish.
Aulus Gellius, in 13.23 of his Attic Nights, notes that Roman priests would invoke specific attributes of various gods, "maia Volcani, Salacia Neptuni, hora Quirini, nerio Martis." Forsythe notes that Salacia Neptuni means "effervescence of Neptune". Sometimes, as Salachia, she is also known as the goddess of springs, ruling over the springs of highly mineralized waters.
2004 VN112/474640 Alicanto, provisionally designated 2004 VN112, is a detached extreme trans-Neptunian object. It was discovered on 6 November 2004, by American astronomer Andrew C. Becker at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. It never gets closer than 47 AU from the Sun (near the outer edge of the main Kuiper belt) and averages more than 300 AU from the Sun. Its large eccentricity strongly suggests that it was gravitationally scattered onto its current orbit. Because it is, like all detached objects, outside the current gravitational influence of Neptune, how it came to have this orbit cannot yet be explained. It was named after Alicanto, a nocturnal bird in Chilean mythology.
The Alicanto is a mythological nocturnal bird of the desert of Atacama, pertaining to Chilean mythology. Legend says that the alicanto's wings shine at night with beautiful, metallic colors, and their eyes emit strange lights. The color of the wings may indicate the type of ore it eats, golden if from a gold mine and silvery if from a silver mine. Some descriptions also portray the color of the wings as copper-green.
The bird runs on the ground and can't fly because of the weight of the ore it eats, this means that it runs faster if it hasn't eaten recently. According to legend, a miner that follows an alicanto without being noticed by the bird can find rich mineral outcrops or treasures such as an entierro. But if the Alicanto discovers that it's being followed it will turn off the shining of its wings, and scuttle away in the darkness of the night. Also, if the miner is not of "good heart" the alicanto will guide the miner off a cliff. Accordingly, the miner will not be able to see the cliff in time because of the "intensity of the darkness". It is said that it was an alicanto that guided Juan Godoy to the rich silver outcrops of Chanarcillo on May 16, 1832, sparking the Chilean silver rush.
2003 EL61/136108 Haumea, is a dwarf planet located beyond Neptune's orbit. It was discovered in 2004 by a team headed by Mike Brown of Caltech at the Palomar Observatory in the United States and independently in 2005, by a team headed by Jose Luis Ortiz Moreno at the Sierra Nevada Observatory in Spain, though the latter claim has been contested. On September 17, 2008, it was recognized as a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and named after Haumea, the Hawaiian goddess of childbirth.
Haumea's mass is about one-third that of Pluto, and 1/1400 that of Earth. Although its shape has not been directly observed, calculations from its light curve indicate that it is a triaxial ellipsoid, with its major axis twice as long as its minor. Its gravity is thought to be sufficient for it to have relaxed into hydrostatic equilibrium, making it a dwarf planet. Haumea's elongated shape together with its rapid rotation, high density, and high albedo (from a surface of crystalline water ice), are thought to be the consequences of a giant collision, which left Haumea the largest member of a collisional family that includes several large trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) and Haumea's two known moons, Hi iaka and Namaka.
2003 UB313/136199 Eris is the most massive and second-largest dwarf planet known in the Solar System. It is also the ninth-most-massive known body directly orbiting the Sun, and the largest known body in the Solar System not visited by a spacecraft. It is measured to be 2,326 +- 12 kilometers (1,445.3 +- 7.5 mi) in diameter. Eris is 27% more massive than dwarf planet Pluto, though Pluto is slightly larger by volume. Eris's mass is about 0.27% of the Earth's mass.
Eris was discovered in January 2005 by a Palomar Observatory-based team led by Mike Brown, and its identity was verified later that year. It is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) and a member of a high-eccentricity population known as the scattered disk. It has one known moon, Dysnomia. As of February 2016,
its distance from the Sun is 96.3 astronomical units (1.441x1010 km; 8.95x109 mi), roughly three times that of Pluto. With the exception of some comets, Eris and Dysnomia are currently the second-most-distant known natural objects in the Solar System, the farthest object being V774104 discovered in November 2015 at 103 AU.
Because Eris appeared to be larger than Pluto, NASA initially described it as the Solar System's tenth planet. This, along with the prospect of other objects of similar size being discovered in the future, motivated the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to define the term planet for the first time. Under the IAU definition approved on August 24, 2006, Eris is a "dwarf planet", along with objects such as Pluto, Ceres, Haumea and Makemake, thereby reducing the number of known planets in the Solar System to eight, the same as before Pluto's discovery in 1930.
2005 EO302/184314 Mbabamwanawaresa is a mid-sized trans-Neptunian object in the classical Kuiper belt, perhaps 300 km across, discovered on March 11, 2005.
Mbaba Mwana Waresa is a fertility goddess of the Zulu religion of Southern Africa. She rules over rainbows, agriculture, harvests, rain, and beer and has power over water and earth. She taught her people how to sow and reap and also the art of making beer. It is this act that has made her one of the more revered goddesses of the Zulu people.
Mbaba Mwana Waresa lives in the clouds, in a round hut made of rainbow arches. Whenever is heard the telltale sound of her thunder drum, people know that she is pouring much-needed waters from her heavenly home. She is the daughter of the sky god Umvelinqangi. She is able to shapeshift her appearance to that of an animal, hence her other name, Nomkhubulwane, which means "She who chooses the state of an animal".
2005 EF298/469705 Ka'gara is a trans-Neptunian object and binary system of the core Kuiper belt, located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It was discovered on 11 March 2005 by American astronomer Marc Buie at the Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona.
The primary body measures around 140 kilometers (90 miles) in diameter. Its 120-kilometer (75-mile) companion !Haunu was discovered with the Hubble Space Telescope in 2009. The Ka'gara-!Haunu system is currently undergoing mutual occultation and eclipsing events in which one body casts a shadow on or obstructs the view of the other as seen from Earth.
The names Ka'gara and !Haunu are from the mythology of the Xam people of South Africa. Ka'gara and his brother-in-law !Haunu fought an epic battle in the east using thunder and lightning, producing mountainous clouds and rain. The conflict was fought over Ka'gara's returning his younger sister, !Haunu's wife, to their parents.The names were approved and an official naming citation was published on 16 June 2021 by the International Astronomical Union's Working Group on Small Body Nomenclature.
2005 FY9/136472 Makemake is a dwarf planet and the second-largest of what is known as the classical population of Kuiper belt objects, with a diameter approximately that of Saturn's moon Iapetus, or 60% that of Pluto.
Makemake was discovered on March 31, 2005 by a team led by Michael E. Brown, and announced on July 29, 2005. It was initially known as 2005 FY9 and later given the minor-planet number 136472. In July 2008, it was named after Makemake, a creator god in the Rapa Nui mythology of Easter Island, under the expectation by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) that it would prove to be a dwarf planet.
The team had planned to delay announcing their discoveries of the bright objects Makemake and Eris until further observations and calculations were complete, but announced them both on July 29 when the discovery of another large object they had been tracking, Haumea, was controversially announced on July 27 by a different team in Spain.
Makemake is the brightest trans-Neptunian object after Pluto, with an apparent magnitude of 16.2 in late 1930, it is theoretically bright enough to have been discovered by Clyde Tombaugh, whose search for trans-Neptunian objects was sensitive to objects up to magnitude 17.
2007 OR10/225088 Gonggong is a dwarf planet, a member of the scattered disc beyond Neptune. Gonggong was discovered on 17 July 2007.
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The object is named after Gonggong, a Chinese water god responsible for chaos, floods and the tilt of the Earth. The name was chosen by its discoverers in 2019, when they hosted an online poll for the general public to help choose a name for the object, and the name Gonggong won.
Gonggong is depicted as having a copper-and-iron, red-haired human head (or sometimes torso) and the body or tail of a serpent. Gonggong was responsible for creating chaos and catastrophe, causing flooding and tilting the Earth, until he was sent into exile.
2007 TY430/341520 Mors-Somnus is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) that resides in the Kuiper belt and was discovered on October 14, 2007 by Scott S. Sheppard and C. Trujillo with Subaru telescope at Mauna Kea It is classified as a plutino, which means that it is in the 3:2 mean motion resonance with Neptune.
341520 Mors-Somnus was named on June 2, 2015 after the mythological Roman gods of death (Mors) and sleep (Somnus).
341520 Mors-Somnus is a small double plutino occupying the 3:2 mean motion resonance with Neptune. The object is a wide optically resolved binary.
2007 UK126/229762 G!kun||'homdima is a trans-Neptunian object and binary system from the extended scattered disc, located in the outermost region of the Solar System.
It was discovered on 19 October 2007 by American astronomers Megan Schwamb, Michael Brown, and David Rabinowitz at the Palomar Observatory in California and measures approximately 600 kilometers (400 miles) in diameter, and is representative of mid-sized objects under approximately 1000 km that do not appear to have collapsed into fully solid bodies. Its 100-kilometer moon was discovered with the Hubble Space Telescope in 2008.
The name G!kun||'homdima, is from the Ju|'hoansi (!Kung) people of Namibia. G!kun||'homdima, is the Beautiful Aardvark Girl of Ju|'hoan mythology, who sometimes appears in the stories of other San peoples as a python girl or elephant girl; she defends her people and punishes wrongdoers using gamigami spines, a rain-cloud full of hail, and her magical oryx horn.
2010 EK139/471143 Dziewanna is a trans-Neptunian object in the scattered disc, orbiting the Sun in the outermost region of the Solar System.
It was discovered on 13 March 2010, by astronomers Andrzej Udalski, Scott Sheppard, Marcin Kubiak and Chad Trujillo at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. The discovery was made during the Polish OGLE project of Warsaw University. Based on its absolute magnitude and assumed albedo, it is very likely a dwarf planet with a calculated diameter of approximately 470 kilometers.
It was named after Devana (Dziewanna), a Slavic goddess of the wild nature, forests and the hunt.
2011 KT19/471325 (nicknamed Niku) is a trans-Neptunian object that has an unusual 110 degree tilted solar orbital plane and retrograde orbit around the Sun.
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It was discovered some time in 2015, and announced in August 2016 by a team of astronomers using the Pan-STARRS telescope. It was soon linked with a supposed prograde Centaur (2011 KT19; inclination = 38 degrees and semi-major axis = 28AU) that had been lost due to a short observation arc. Notably, it is part of a group of objects which orbit the Sun in a highly inclined orbit; the reasons for this unusual orbit are unknown as of August 2016
2012 BX85/420356 Praamzius is a trans-Neptunian object and possibly a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt. It has the second-lowest eccentricity of any TNO, after 2003 YN179. Praamzius orbits near the 3:5 resonance with Neptune, but it takes about 160 Neptune orbits (26,500 years) to make an orbit less than would be expected of an object in a true 3:5 resonance.
It was discovered on 23 January 2012, with precovery observations accepted by the Minor Planet Center dating back to December 2011, with possible precovery observations dating back to 2004 that have yet to be accepted. It was officially named on 22 February 2016 after the Lithuanian god of the sky, peace, and friendship.
Praamzius is one of the most recently discovered minor planets that have been given a numeric designation, most likely because of the large number of observations, on average about one every 10 days, since it was discovered. All of the observations, except 6 in February 2013, were made by the Mount Graham Observatory, the discovery site.
2006 SQ372/308933 is a small trans-Neptunian object and highly eccentric centaur on a cometary-like orbit in the outer region of the Solar System, approximately 123 kilometers (76 miles) in diameter. It was discovered through the Sloan Digital Sky Survey by astronomers Andrew Becker, Andrew Puckett and Jeremy Kubica on images first taken on 27 September 2006 (with precovery images dated to 13 September 2005).
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It has a strongly eccentric orbit, crossing that of Neptune near perihelion but bringing it more than 1,500 AU from the Sun at aphelion. It takes about 22,500 years to orbit the barycenter of the Solar System. The large semi-major axis makes it similar to (87269) 2000 OO67 and 90377 Sedna. With an absolute magnitude of 8.1, it is estimated to be about 60 to 140 km in diameter. Michael Brown estimates that it has an albedo of 0.08 which would give a diameter of around 110 km.
The object could possibly be a comet. The discoverers hypothesize that the object could come from the Hills cloud, but other scientists like California Institute of Technology's Michael Brown also consider other possibilities, as "it may have formed from debris just beyond Neptune [in the Kuiper belt] and been 'kicked' into its distant orbit by a planet like Neptune or Uranus".
2012 VP113, also known by its nickname "Biden", is a trans-Neptunian object of the sednoid population, located in the outermost reaches of the Solar System. It was first observed on 5 November 2012 by American astronomers Scott Sheppard and Chad Trujillo at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. The discovery was announced on 26 March 2014. The object probably measures somewhere between 300 and 1000 km in diameter, possibly large enough to be a dwarf planet.
2012 VP113 is the minor planet with the farthest known perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) in the Solar System, greater than Sedna's. Though its perihelion is farther, 2012 VP113 has an aphelion only about half of Sedna's. It is the second discovered sednoid, with semi-major axis beyond 150 AU and perihelion greater than 50 AU. The similarity of the orbit of 2012 VP113 to other known extreme trans-Neptunian objects led Scott Sheppard and Chad Trujillo to suggest that an undiscovered object, Planet Nine, in the outer Solar System is shepherding these distant objects into similar type orbits.
2014 GE45/472235 Zhulong is a transneptunian object classified as a scattered object with an absolute magnitude of 6.5; its diameter is estimated at 230 kilometers.
The object had been discovered in 2011 and designated 2011 GY 61, but the Minor Planet Center in charge of official numbering, considered this a pre-discovery.
2014 MU69/486958 Arrokoth (initially called "PT1" and "1110113Y" by the New Horizons and Hubble teams, respectively) is a classical Kuiper belt object. It is the target for the New Horizons probe for a flyby on 1 January 2019, after its Pluto flyby. It was selected as New Horizons' target in August 2015. After four course changes in October and November 2015, New Horizons is on course toward 2014 MU69.
On 26 June 2014, 2014 MU69 was discovered using the Hubble Space Telescope during a preliminary survey to find a suitable Kuiper belt object for the New Horizons probe to fly by. The discovery required the use of the Hubble Space Telescope, because with an apparent magnitude of nearly 27 it is too faint for all but the most powerful telescopes. The Hubble Space Telescope is also capable of very precise astrometry and hence a reliable orbit determination.
When 2014 MU69 was first observed, it was labelled 1110113Y, and nicknamed "11", for short. Its existence as a potential target of the New Horizons probe was announced by NASA in October 2014 and it was unofficially designated PT1 ("Potential Target 1"). Its official designation, 2014 MU69, was assigned by the Minor Planet Center (MPC) in March 2015 after sufficient orbital information was gathered. After further observations pinning down its orbit, it was officially given the permanent minor planet number 486958 in MPC 103886 on 12 March 2017.
The name 2014 MU69 is a provisional designation and indicates that it was the 1745th object (("U" = 20) + ("69" x 25)) discovered between 16 and 30 June 2014 ("2014", "M"). A proper name for the object will be selected in due course.
Arrokoth was named for a word glossed as "sky", from the Powhatan language of the Tidewater region of Virginia and Maryland. The pronunciation and meaning of the word, however, are not entirely certain, as the language became extinct in the late 18th century and little was recorded of it. The only record of the word was collected in 1610-1611 by English writer William Strachey, who had a decent ear but bad handwriting, and scholars since have had considerable difficulty reading his notes. The meanings of the words are also often uncertain, as Strachey and the Powhatan had no language in common.
2014 UZ224 is a trans-Neptunian object and possible dwarf planet orbiting in the scattered disc. As of October 2018, it was approximately 90.7 astronomical units (1.357x1010 km) from the Sun, and will slowly decrease in distance until it reaches its perihelion of 38 AU sometime near 2142. The discoverers have nicknamed it "DeeDee" for "Distant Dwarf".
2014 UZ224 was discovered by a team led by David Gerdes using data collected by the large camera Dark Energy Camera (DECam).It has a diameter of ~635 km (395 mi) and reflects just 13 percent of the sunlight that hits it on its 1,136 year orbit around the sun. Since the numbering of (532037) 2013 FY27 in May 2019, 2014 UZ224 is the largest unnumbered object in the Solar System.
2015 BP519, nicknamed Caju, is a detached trans-Neptunian object on a highly eccentric and inclined orbit in the outermost region of the Solar System. It was first observed on 27 November 2014, by astronomers of the Dark Energy Survey using the DECam instrument of the Victor M. Blanco Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile.
Its estimated diameter 400-700km would make it a potential dwarf planet.
The object orbits the Sun at a distance of 35.1-824.6 AU once every 8912 years and 1 month (semi-major axis of 430 AU). Its orbit has an exceptionally high eccentricity of 0.92 and an inclination of 54 degrees with respect to the ecliptic. It is one of more than a dozen extreme trans-Neptunian objects with perihelion greater than 30 AU and a semi-major axis greater than 250 AU, indicative for the hypothetical Planet Nine.
2015 TH367 is a trans-Neptunian object approximately 220 kilometers (140 miles) in diameter. It is currently outbound approximately 89 AU from the Sun, a distance of more than 13 billion km (8.1 billion mi). As of its announcement in March 2018, it is the fourth most distant observed natural object in the Solar System. At a visual apparent magnitude of 26.2, it is one of the faintest trans-Neptunian objects observed.
2015 TH367 was first observed by Scott Sheppard, Chad Trujillo, and David Tholen on 13 October 2015 using the Subaru Telescope, a large reflecting telescope at the Mauna Kea Observatories on the summit of Mauna Kea with a primary mirror 8.2 meters (27 ft) in diameter. In 2015 it was only observed for 26 days, which is a very short observation arc for a trans-Neptunian object as objects far from the Sun move very slowly across the sky.
2015 TG387/541132 Leleakuhonua is an extreme trans-Neptunian object and sednoid in the outermost part of the Solar System. It was first observed on 13 October 2015, by astronomers at the Mauna Kea Observatories, Hawaii.
Based on its discovery date and the letters in its provisional designation 2015 TG387, the object was informally nicknamed "The Goblin" by its discoverers and later named Leleakuhonua, a life form mentioned in the Hawaiian religion. It was the third sednoid discovered, after Sedna and 2012 VP113, and measures approximately 110 kilometers (68 miles) in diameter.
2015 RR245/523794 is a trans-Neptunian object and possible dwarf planet from the Kuiper belt in the outermost regions of the Solar System. It was discovered on 14 September 2010, by Pan-STARRS at Haleakala Observatory on the island of Maui, Hawaii, in the United States. The object stays in a rare 2:9 resonance with Neptune and measures approximately 700 kilometers in diameter, which likely makes it large enough to be round.
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This minor planet was numbered by the Minor Planet Center on 25 September 2018 (M.P.C. 111779). As of 2021, it has not been named.
2018 VG18 is a distant trans-Neptunian object that was discovered well beyond 100 AU (15 billion km) from the Sun. It was first observed on 10 November 2018 by astronomers Scott Sheppard, David Tholen, and Chad Trujillo during a search for distant trans-Neptunian objects whose orbits might be gravitationally influenced by the hypothetical Planet Nine. They announced their discovery on 17 December 2018 and nicknamed the object "Farout" to emphasize its distance from the Sun.
Upon the announcement of 2018 VG18's discovery, the discoverers nicknamed the object "Farout" for its distant location from the Sun, and particularly because it was the farthest known TNO observed at the time. On the same day, the object was formally given the provisional designation 2018 VG18 by the Minor Planet Center.
Asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet that orbits within the inner Solar System. They are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter. Of the roughly one million known asteroids the greatest number are located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, approximately 2 to 4 AU from the Sun, in the main asteroid belt.
The Minor Planet Center has officially named an asteroid for William Shatner. Shatner (31556) also goes by the moniker 1999 EP5
William Shatner (b. 1931) is a Canadian actor. Best known for portraying Captain James Tiberius Kirk in 'Star Trek,' he has attained the status of cultural icon. His character has inspired people to become writers, researchers, pilots and astronauts.
Roy A. Tucker, who operates Goodricke-Pigott Observatory, discovered this minor planet March 13, 1999. That date was the 69th anniversary of the announcement of the discovery of Pluto by Lowell Observatory.
1988 BN4/10505 Johnnycash is an asteroid in the asteroid belt of the Solar System. It was discovered by Henri Debehogne on 22 January 1988.
It has an orbit characterized by a semi-major axis equal to 3.0153911 au and an eccentricity of 0.0333439, inclined by 8.64403° with respect to the ecliptic.
1998 WU7/101461 Dunedin, discovered at Cocoa on 1998-11-25 by I. P. Griffin.
Dunedin is a city in New Zealand. Adopted home to the discoverer of this asteroid, the city, known as the "Edinburgh of the south" has been the jumping off point for many Antarctic journeys of discovery.
1999 RQ36/101955 Bennu is a carbonaceous asteroid in the Apollo group discovered by the LINEAR Project on September 11, 1999. It is a potentially hazardous object that is listed on the Sentry Risk Table with the second-highest cumulative rating on the Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale.
It has a cumulative 1-in-2,700 chance of impacting Earth between 2175-2199. It is the planned target of the OSIRIS-REx mission which is intended to return samples to Earth in 2023 for further study.
101955 Bennu has a mean diameter of approximately 492 m (1,614 ft; 0.306 mi) and has been observed extensively with the Arecibo Observatory planetary radar and the Goldstone Deep Space Network.
2004 UP10/385571 Otrera is a Neptune trojan leading Neptune's orbit in the outer Solar System. It was discovered by American astronomers Scott Sheppard and Chad Trujillo at Las Campanas Observatory on 16 October 2004. It measures approximately 100 kilometers in diameter and was the second such body to be discovered after 2001 QR322.
In Greek mythology, Otrera (Ancient Greek: Otrere) was the founder and first Queen of the Amazons; the consort of Ares and mother of Hippolyta and Penthesilea. She is credited with being the founder of the shrine of Artemis in Ephesus.
2005 TO74/385695 Clete is a Neptune trojan, co-orbital with the ice giant Neptune, approximately 97 kilometers (60 miles) in diameter. It was named after Clete, one of the Amazons from Greek mythology. The minor planet was discovered on 8 October 2005, by American astronomers Scott Sheppard and Chad Trujillo at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. 23 known Neptune trojans have already been discovered.
This minor planet was named from Greek mythology after Clete, a member of the Amazons, an all-female warrior tribe that fought in the Trojan War on the side of the Trojans against the Greek.
Clete was one of the twelve followers of the Amazonian queen Penthesilea and went looking for her after she went missing during the war. According to the queen's will, Clete sailed to Italy and founded the city of Clete.
2015 BZ509/514107 Ka'epaoka'awela also nicknamed Bee-Zed, is a small asteroid, approximately 3 kilometers (2 miles) in diameter, in a resonant, co-orbital motion with Jupiter. Its orbit is retrograde, which is opposite to the direction of most other bodies in the Solar System.
It was discovered on 26 November 2014, by astronomers of the Pan-STARRS survey at Haleakala Observatory on the island of Maui, United States. The unusual object is the first example of an asteroid in a 1:1 resonance with any of the planets. A study has suggested it may be an interstellar asteroid captured 4.5 billion years ago into an orbit around the Sun.
The Hawaiian name Ka'epaoka'awela is composed of ka 'the', 'epa 'tricky' or 'mischievous', referring to its contrary orbit, o 'of', and Ka'awela 'Jupiter'.
2016 HO3/469219 Kamo'oalewa is a very small asteroid, fast rotator and near-Earth object of the Apollo group, approximately 41 meters (135 feet) in diameter. It is currently the smallest, closest, and most stable (known) quasi-satellite of Earth. The asteroid was discovered by Pan-STARRS at Haleakala Observatory on 27 April 2016. It was named Kamo'oalewa, a Hawaiian word that refers to an oscillating celestial object.
The name Kamo'oalewa is derived from the Hawaiian words ka 'the', mo'o 'fragment', referring to it being a piece broken off a larger object, a 'of' and lewa 'to oscillate', referring to its motion in the sky as viewed from Earth. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 6 April 2019.
2019 AQ3 is an inclined near-Earth object of the small Atira group from the innermost region of the Solar System, estimated to measure 1.4 kilometers (0.9 miles) in diameter.
Among the hundreds of thousands known asteroids, 2019 AQ3's orbit was thought to have likely the smallest semi-major axis (0.589 AU) and aphelion (0.77 AU), that is, the orbit's average distance and farthest point from the Sun, respectively. The object was first observed on 4 January 2019, by astronomers at Palomar's Zwicky Transient Facility in California, with recovered images dating back to 2015.
2020 AV2/594913 'Aylo'chaxnim is a large near-Earth asteroid discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility on 4 January 2020. It is the first asteroid discovered to have an orbit completely within Venus's orbit, and is thus the first and only known member of the provisionally named Vatira population of Atira-class asteroids.
'Aylo'chaxnim has the smallest known aphelion and third-smallest known semi-major axis among all asteroids. With an absolute magnitude approximately 16.2, the asteroid is expected to be larger than 1 km in diameter.
'Aylo'chaxnim was discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) survey at the Palomar Observatory on 4 January 2020, by astronomers Bryce Bolin, Frank Masci, and Quanzhi Ye. The discovery formed part of a campaign for detecting interior-Earth asteroids (Atiras) using the wide-field ZTF camera on the 1.22-meter Samuel Oschin telescope at the Palomar Observatory. The detection of such objects is difficult due to their close proximity to the Sun: asteroids within the orbit of Venus never reach solar elongations greater than 47 degrees, meaning that they are only observable during twilight as the Sun is below the Earth's horizon. Because of this, inner-Venusian asteroids could only be observed within a short time frame, hence why the ZTF camera was used since it can effectively detect transient objects.
At the time of discovery, 'Aylo'chaxnim was located in the constellation Aquarius, at an apparent magnitude around 18. The discovery of 'Aylo'chaxnim was reported by astronomer Bryce Bolin, and was subsequently listed on the Minor Planet Center's Near-Earth Object Confirmation Page (NEOCP) on 4 January 2020.
Its name was approved on 8 November 2021. 'Aylo'chaxnim means 'Venus girl' in the indigenous Luiseno language of southern California. The name celebrates the location of the discovery (Palomar Mountain, which is on ancestral Luiseno land) and the fact that 'Aylo'chaxnim is the first discovered asteroid to orbit entirely within the orbit of Venus. Being the prototype of the informally named Vatira class, its name is expected to be used to refer to this newly confirmed population.
1996 GT/65803 Didymos is a sub-kilometer asteroid and binary system that is classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid and near-Earth object of the Apollo group. The asteroid was discovered in 1996 by the Spacewatch survey at Kitt Peak, and its small 160-metre minor-planet moon, named Dimorphos, was discovered in 2003. Due to its binary nature, the asteroid was then named Didymos, the Greek word for 'twin'.
Didymos's moon, Dimorphos, was the target of the DART mission to test the viability of asteroid impact avoidance by collision with a spacecraft, while the whole system is to be visited by LICIACube, a flyby CubeSat to witness the impact.
