A classical Kuiper belt object, also called a cubewano ( "QB1-o"), is a low-eccentricity Kuiper belt object (KBO) that orbits beyond Neptune and is not controlled by an orbital resonance with Neptune. Cubewanos have orbits with semi-major axes in the 40–50 AU range and, unlike Pluto, do not cross Neptune's orbit. That is, they have low-eccentricity and sometimes low-inclination orbits like the classical planets.
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 as wide and 20–200 times as massive. Like the asteroid belt, it consists mainly of small bodies or remnants from when the Solar System formed. While many asteroids are composed primarily of rock and metal, most Kuiper belt objects are composed largely of frozen volatiles, such as methane, ammonia, and water. The Kuiper belt is home to most of the objects that astronomers generally accept as dwarf planets: Orcus, Pluto, Haumea, Quaoar, and Makemake. Some of the Solar System's moons, such as Neptune's Triton and Saturn's Phoebe, may have originated in the region.
A trans-Neptunian object (TNO), also written transneptunian object, is any minor planet in the Solar System that orbits the Sun at a greater average distance than Neptune, which has an orbital semi-major axis of 30.1 astronomical units (au).
28978 Ixion (, provisional designation 2001 KX76) is a large trans-Neptunian object and a possible dwarf planet. It is located in the Kuiper belt, a region of icy objects orbiting beyond Neptune in the outer Solar System. Ixion is classified as a plutino, a dynamical class of objects in a 2:3 orbital resonance with Neptune. It was discovered in May 2001 by astronomers of the Deep Ecliptic Survey at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, and was announced in July 2001. The object is named after the Greek mythological figure Ixion, who was a king of the Lapiths.
(55565) 2002 AW197 (provisional designation 2002 AW197) is a classical, non-resonant trans-Neptunian object from the Kuiper belt in the outermost region of the Solar System, also known as a cubewano. With a likely diameter of at least 700 kilometers (430 miles), it is approximately tied with 2002 MS4 and 2013 FY27 (to within measurement uncertainties) as the largest unnamed object in the Solar System. It was discovered at Palomar Observatory in 2002.
(612911) 2004 XR190, nicknamed Buffy, is a trans-Neptunian object, classified as both a scattered disc object and a detached object, located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It was first observed on 11 December 2004, by astronomers with the Canada–France Ecliptic Plane Survey at the Mauna Kea Observatories, Hawaii, United States. It is the largest known highly inclined (> 45°) object. With a perihelion of 51 AU, it belongs to a small and poorly understood group of very distant objects with moderate eccentricities.
15810 Arawn, provisional designation 1994 JR1, 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 underworld in Welsh mythology, and discovered on 12 May 1994, by astronomers Michael Irwin and Anna Żytkow with the 2.5-metre Isaac Newton Telescope at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in the Canary Islands, Spain.
(35671) 1998 SN165 (provisional designation 1998 SN165) is a trans-Neptunian object from the Kuiper belt located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It was discovered on 23 September 1998, by American astronomer Arianna Gleason at the Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona. The cold classical Kuiper belt object is a dwarf planet candidate, as it measures approximately 400 kilometers (250 miles) in diameter. It has a grey-blue color (BB) and a rotation period of 8.8 hours. As of 2021, it has not been named.
471143 Dziewanna (provisional designation 2010 EK139) is a trans-Neptunian object in the scattered disc, orbiting the Sun in the outermost region of the Solar System.
2011 HM102 is the ninth Neptune trojan discovered. It was first observed on 29 April 2011, during the New Horizons KBO Search (268) using the Magellan II (Clay) Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. It has the same orbital period as Neptune and orbits at the L5 Lagrangian point about 60° backwards of Neptune.
2011 KW48, temporarily designated VNH0004, is a trans-Neptunian object from the inner classical part of the Kuiper belt, located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It measures approximately 77 kilometers (48 mi) in diameter.
420356 Praamzius, provisional designation 2012 BX85, is a trans-Neptunian object from the classical Kuiper belt, located in the outermost region of the Solar System, approximately 190–320 kilometers (120–200 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 23 January 2012, by astronomers Kazimieras Černis and Richard Boyle with the Vatican's VATT at Mount Graham Observatory in Arizona, United States. The cold classical Kuiper belt object is a weak dwarf planet candidate and possibly very red in color. It was named after the chief god Praamžius from Lithuanian mythology.
2014 PN70 (internally designated g12000JZ, g1 and PT3) is a trans-Neptunian object from the cold classical Kuiper belt located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It measures approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) in diameter. The object was first observed by the New Horizons Search Team using the Hubble Space Telescope on 6 August 2014, and was a proposed flyby target for the New Horizons probe until 2015, when the alternative target 486958 Arrokoth was selected.
(533560) 2014 JM80, provisional designation 2014 JM80, is a trans-Neptunian object from the scattered disc in the outermost Solar System, approximately 340 kilometers (210 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 9 May 2010 by astronomers with the Pan-STARRS-1 survey at the Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, in the United States. According to American astronomer Michael Brown, it is "possibly" a dwarf planet.
2017 OF69 is a resonant trans-Neptunian object from the Kuiper belt, located in the outermost region of the Solar System in the Kuiper belt's plutino population and measures approximately 533 kilometers (330 miles) in diameter. It was first observed on 26 July 2017, by American astronomers David Tholen, Scott Sheppard, and Chad Trujillo at Mauna Kea Observatories in Hawaii, but not announced until 31 May 2018 due to observations made in April and May 2018 refining its orbit significantly.
(523635) 2010 DN93 (provisional designation 2010 DN93) is a trans-Neptunian object from in the scattered disc located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It was discovered on 26 February 2010, by astronomers with the Pan-STARRS survey at Haleakala Observatory on the island of Maui, Hawaii, in the United States. Assuming a low albedo, the object is estimated at approximately 490 kilometers (300 miles) in diameter. It was numbered in 2018 and remains unnamed.
(523674) 2013 MA12 (provisional designation 2013 MA12) is a classical trans-Neptunian object and dwarf planet candidate from the Kuiper belt, located in the outermost region of the Solar System, approximately 340 kilometers (210 miles) in diameter. The cubewano belongs to the hot population. It was discovered on 26 July 2011, by astronomers with the Pan-STARRS survey at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, United States.
(523702) 2014 HW199 (provisional designation 2014 HW199) is a trans-Neptunian object from the classical Kuiper belt, located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It was discovered on 30 January 2011, by astronomers with the Pan-STARRS survey at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, United States. The classical Kuiper belt object is also a dwarf planet candidate, as it measures approximately 290 kilometers (180 miles) in diameter.
2012 HE85 is a small, resonant trans-Neptunian object from the Kuiper belt, located in the outermost region of the Solar System, approximately 74 kilometers (46 miles) in diameter. It was first observed by a team of astronomers using one of the Magellan Telescopes in Chile during the New Horizons KBO Search on 18 April 2012, in order to find a potential flyby target for the New Horizons spacecraft. The likely 5:9 resonant object was imaged by the spacecraft from afar at a record distance from Earth in 2017.
2011 JY31 is a binary trans-Neptunian object from the Kuiper belt, located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It is a cold classical Kuiper belt object. 2011 JY31 was discovered on 4 May 2011, by a team of astronomers using one of the Magellan Telescopes in Chile during the New Horizons KBO Search for a potential flyby target for the New Horizons spacecraft. Distant observations by New Horizons from September 2018 revealed its binary nature, showing two 68 km (42 mi)-wide components in a tight, mutual orbit 200 km (120 mi) apart.
