(523794) 2015 RR245

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(523794) 2015 RR245
523794-2015rr245 hst.png
2015 RR245 imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope in October 2020
Discovery [1]
Discovered by OSSOS
Michele T. Bannister et al. [2] [3]
Discovery site Mauna Kea Obs.
Discovery date9 September 2015
Designations
(523794) 2015 RR245
TNO [4]  · SDO  · resonant (2:9) [3] [5]
p-DP [6]  · distant [1]
Orbital characteristics [4]
Epoch 27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 3
Observation arc 13.10 yr (4,786 d)
Earliest precovery date15 October 2004
Aphelion 128.80 AU
Perihelion 33.943 AU
81.373 AU
Eccentricity 0.5829
734.05 yr (268,113 d)
323.86°
0° 0m 4.68s / day
Inclination 7.5755°
211.68°
≈ 21 August 2092 [7]
±3 days
261.02°
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter
≈500 km(primary) [5]
≈630  km [6]
500–870 km assuming a single object [3]
0.12 (assumed) [3]
0.11 (assumed) [6]
0.135 (assumed) [5]
neutral
G–R=0.59±0.11 [3]
21.2 (perihelic) [8]
3.6±0.1(Hr) [3]
4.01 [1] [4]
4.1 [6]

    (523794) 2015 RR245, provisional designation 2015 RR245, is a large trans-Neptunian object of the Kuiper belt in the outermost regions of the Solar System. It was discovered on 9 September 2015, by the Outer Solar System Origins Survey at Mauna Kea Observatories on the Big island of Hawaii, in the United States. [1] The object is in a rare 2:9 resonance with Neptune and measures approximately 600 kilometers in diameter. 2015 RR245 was suspected to have a satellite according to a study announced by Noyelles et al. in a European Planetary Science Congress meeting in 2019. [9]

    Contents

    Discovery

    A first precovery of 2015 RR245 was taken at the Cerro Tololo Observatory in Chile on 15 October 2004. [1] [4] It was first observed by a research team led by Michele Bannister while poring over images that the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii took in September 2015 as part of the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS), [1] [10] [11] and later identified in images taken at Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Pan-STARRS between 2008 and 2016. [8] The discovery was formally announced in a Minor Planet Electronic Circular on 10 July 2016. [2]

    Numbering and naming

    This minor planet was numbered by the Minor Planet Center on 25 September 2018 ( M.P.C. 111779). [12] As of 2021, it has not been named. [1]

    Orbit and classification

    2015 RR245 orbit diagram with the Kuiper belt and outer planet orbits shown 2015 RR245.gif
    2015 RR245 orbit diagram with the Kuiper belt and outer planet orbits shown
    2015 RR245's orbit librating in a 2:9 resonance with Neptune 2015RR245 resonance.gif
    2015 RR245's orbit librating in a 2:9 resonance with Neptune

    As of 2018, 2015 RR245 has a reasonably well defined orbit with an uncertainty of 3. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 33.8–128.6  AU once every 731 years and 6 months (for reference, Neptune's orbit is at 30 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.58 and an inclination of 8° with respect to the ecliptic. [4]

    2015 RR245 is among the most distant known Solar System objects. As of 2018, it is 63  AU from the Sun. It will make its closest approach to the Sun in 2093, when it will reach an apparent magnitude of 21.2. [4] [8]

    2:9 resonance

    Additional precovery astrometry from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Pan-STARRS1 survey shows that 2015 RR245 is a resonant trans-Neptunian object, securely trapped in a 2:9 mean motion resonance with Neptune, meaning that this minor planet orbits the Sun twice in the same amount of time it takes Neptune to complete 9 orbits. [3] The object is unlikely to have been trapped in the 2:9 resonance for the age of Solar System. It is much more likely that it has been hopping between various resonances and got trapped in the 2:9 resonance in the last 100 million years. [3]

    Distribution of trans-Neptunian objects. Objects occupying the stronger resonances are in red. KBOs and resonances.png
    Distribution of trans-Neptunian objects. Objects occupying the stronger resonances are in red.

    Physical characteristics

    Diameter and albedo

    Its exact size is uncertain, but the best estimate is around 670 km (420 mi) in diameter, assuming an albedo of 0.12 (within a wider range of 500 to 870 km, based on albedos of 0.21 to 0.07). [3] For comparison, Pluto, the largest object in the Kuiper belt, is about 2,374 km (1,475 mi) in diameter. [10] [11] Astronomer Michael Brown assumes an albedo of 0.11 and calculates a diameter of 626 km, [6] while the Johnston's Archive gives a diameter of 500 kilometers for the primary and 275 km for the satellite, based on an assumed equal albedo of 0.135. [5]

    Possible satellite

    2015 RR245 is suspected to be binary. [13] If this moon exists and significantly contributes to the observed brightness of the primary, the size of 2015 RR245 may therefore be substantially smaller than estimates that assumed the system's total brightness was from a single object; the system may be similar to that of 174567 Varda. Once the orbit of the satellite is determined, the mass and density of the 2015 RR245 can be determined. [9] [14] 2015 RR245 was observed by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2020, but did not detect the putative satellite. [13]

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Kuiper belt</span> Area of the Solar System beyond the planets, comprising small bodies

    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.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Trans-Neptunian object</span> Solar system objects beyond Neptune

    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).

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">28978 Ixion</span> Plutino

    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.

    <span class="nowrap">(612911) 2004 XR<sub>190</sub></span> Minor planet in the scattered disc

    (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.

    (119070) 2001 KP77, provisional designation:2001 KP77, is a resonant trans-Neptunian object in the Kuiper belt, a circumstellar disc located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It was discovered on 23 May 2001, by American astronomer Marc Buie at the Cerro Tololo Observatory in Chile. The object is locked in a 4:7 orbital resonance with Neptune. It has a red surface color and measures approximately 176 kilometers (110 miles) in diameter. As of 2021, it has not been named.

    <span class="nowrap">(208996) 2003 AZ<sub>84</sub></span> Plutino

    (208996) 2003 AZ84 is a trans-Neptunian object with a possible moon located in the outer regions of the Solar System. It is approximately 940 kilometers across its longest axis, as it has an elongated shape. It belongs to the plutinos – a group of minor planets named after its largest member Pluto – as it orbits in a 2:3 resonance with Neptune in the Kuiper belt. It is the third-largest known plutino, after Pluto and Orcus. It was discovered on 13 January 2003, by American astronomers Chad Trujillo and Michael Brown during the NEAT survey using the Samuel Oschin telescope at Palomar Observatory.

    (118228) 1996 TQ66, prov. designation:1996 TQ66, is a resonant trans-Neptunian object of the plutino population in the Kuiper belt, located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It was discovered on 8 October 1996, by American astronomers Jun Chen, David Jewitt, Chad Trujillo and Jane Luu, using the UH88 telescope at the Mauna Kea Observatories, Hawaii. The very red object measures approximately 185 kilometers (110 miles) in diameter. As of 2021, it has not been named.

    (118378) 1999 HT11, provisional designation:1999 HT11, is a trans-Neptunian object from the outermost region of the Solar System, locked in a 4:7 orbital resonance with Neptune. It was discovered on 17 April 1999, by astronomers at the Kitt Peak Observatory, Arizona, in the United States. The very red object measures approximately 134 kilometers (83 miles) in diameter. As of 2021, it has not been named.

    (35671) 1998 SN165, prov. 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.

    2010 KZ39 is a trans-Neptunian object orbiting the Sun as a detached object in the outer reaches of the Solar System. The object was first observed on 21 May 2010 by astronomers Andrzej Udalski, Scott Sheppard, M. Szymanski and Chad Trujillo at the Las Campañas Observatory in Chile.

    <span class="nowrap">(60621) 2000 FE<sub>8</sub></span>

    (60621) 2000 FE8 is a resonant and binary trans-Neptunian object, approximately 146 kilometers (91 miles) in diameter, located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It was discovered on 27 March 2000, by astronomers John Kavelaars, Brett Gladman, Jean-Marc Petit and Matthew Holman at Mauna Kea Observatory on Hawaii. This distant object resides in an eccentric orbit and is locked in a 2:5 orbital resonance with Neptune. It is known to have a 111-kilometer sized companion, which was discovered in January 2007.

    (523645) 2010 VK201, provisional designation 2010 VK201, is a trans-Neptunian object and member of the classical Kuiper belt, approximately 500 kilometers (310 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 1 November 2010, by the Pan-STARRS 1 survey at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, United States. It has a rotation period of 7.6 hours. It was numbered in September 2018 and remains unnamed.

    The Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS) is an astronomical survey and observing program aimed at discovering and tracking trans-Neptunian objects located in the outermost regions of the Solar System beyond the orbit of Neptune. OSSOS is designed in way that observational biases can be characterized, allowing the numbers and orbits of detected objects to be compared using a survey simulator to the populations predicted in dynamical simulations of the emplacement of trans-Neptunian objects. Conducted at the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope at Mauna Kea Observatories in Hawaii, the survey has discovered 39 numbered objects as of 2018, with potentially hundreds more to follow. The survey's first numbered discovery was the object (496315) 2013 GP136 in 2013.

    2015 KE172, internal designation o5m72, is a distant resonant trans-Neptunian object on an eccentric orbit in the outermost region of the Solar System, approximately 100 kilometers (60 miles) in diameter. It was first observed on 21 May 2015 by astronomers with the Outer Solar System Origins Survey at the Mauna Kea Observatories on the island of Hawaii, United States. It came to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) in October 2017 at a distance of 44.1 AU (6.60 billion km). Its existence was first released in February 2018, and the observations and orbit were announced on 27 April 2018. It belongs to the most distant resonant objects known to exist.

    2014 FZ71 is a trans-Neptunian object, a scattered disc classified as a scattered and detached object, located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It was first observed on 24 March 2014, by a team led by American astronomer Scott Sheppard at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. With its perihelion of almost 56 AU, it belongs to a small and poorly understood group of very distant objects with moderate eccentricities. The object is not a dwarf planet candidate as it only measures approximately 150 kilometers (93 miles) in diameter.

    2015 FJ345 is a trans-Neptunian object and detached object, located in the scattered disc, the outermost region of the Solar System. It was first observed on 17 March 2015, by a team led by American astronomer Scott Sheppard at the Mauna Kea Observatories, in Hawaii, United States. With its perihelion of almost 51 AU, it belongs to a small and poorly understood group of very distant objects with moderate eccentricities. The object is not a dwarf planet candidate as it only measures approximately 120 kilometers (75 miles) in diameter.

    (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.

    <span class="nowrap">2013 FQ<sub>28</sub></span>

    2013 FQ28 is a trans-Neptunian object, both considered a scattered and detached object, located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It was first observed on 17 March 2013, by a team of astronomers at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. It orbits the Sun in a moderate inclined, moderate-eccentricity orbit. The weak dwarf planet candidate measures approximately 260 kilometers (160 miles) in diameter.

    (505448) 2013 SA100, provisional designation 2013 SA100 and also known as o3l79, is a trans-Neptunian object from the classical Kuiper belt in the outermost region of the Solar System. It was discovered on 5 August 2013, by astronomer with the Outer Solar System Origins Survey at the Mauna Kea Observatories, Hawaii, in the United States. The classical Kuiper belt object belongs to the hot population and is a weak dwarf planet candidate, approximately 260 kilometers (160 miles) in diameter.

    (495603) 2015 AM281, provisional designation 2015 AM281, is a resonant trans-Neptunian object in the outermost region of the Solar System, guesstimated at approximately 470 kilometers (290 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 13 March 2010, by astronomers with the Pan-STARRS survey at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, United States.

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "523794 (2015 RR245)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
    2. 1 2 Tomatic, A. U. (10 July 2016). "MPEC 2016-N67 : 2015 RR245". Minor Planet Electronic Circular. Minor Planet Center. 2016-N67. Bibcode:2016MPEC....N...67B.
    3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Bannister, Michele T.; Alexandersen, Mike; Benecchi, Susan D.; Chen, Ying-Tung; Delsanti, Audrey; Fraser, Wesley C.; et al. (December 2016). "OSSOS. IV. Discovery of a Dwarf Planet Candidate in the 9:2 Resonance with Neptune". The Astronomical Journal. 152 (6): 8. arXiv: 1607.06970v2 . Bibcode:2016AJ....152..212B. doi: 10.3847/0004-6256/152/6/212 . S2CID   55207350.
    4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 523794 (2015 RR245)" (2017-11-22 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory . Retrieved 9 October 2018.
    5. 1 2 3 4 "List of Known Trans-Neptunian Objects". Johnston's Archive. 23 July 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
    6. 1 2 3 4 5 Michael E. Brown. "How many dwarf planets are there in the outer solar system? (updates daily)". California Institute of Technology . Retrieved 13 September 2019.
    7. ↑ "Horizons Batch for 523794 (2015 RR245) on 2092-Aug-21" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons . Retrieved 27 August 2023. (JPL#21/Soln.date: 2023-Feb-09)
    8. 1 2 3 Weryk, R.J.; Lilly, E.; Chastel, S.; Denneau, L.; Jedicke, R.; Magnier, E.; Wainscoat, R.J.; Chambers, K.; Flewelling, H.; Huber, M.E.; Waters, C. (17 July 2016). "Distant Solar System Objects identified in the Pan-STARRS1 survey". arXiv: 1607.04895 [astro-ph.EP].
    9. 1 2 Noyelles, Benoît; Hestroffer, Daniel; Petit, Jean-Marc (September 2019). Orbital solutions for the OSSOS binaries (PDF). EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2019. Vol. 13. European Planetary Science Congress. Bibcode:2019EPSC...13..601N.
    10. 1 2 "New Dwarf Planet Discovered Far Beyond Pluto's Orbit". space.com. 11 July 2016.
    11. 1 2 Chang, Kenneth (13 July 2016). "Astronomers Discover New Likely Dwarf Planet, the Latest of Many". The New York Times . Retrieved 14 July 2016.
    12. ↑ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
    13. 1 2 Fraser, Wesley. "Confirming the binarity of Kuiper Belt Object 2015 RR245: a test of the streaming instability HST Proposal 16167". Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes. Space Telescope Science Institute . Retrieved 3 June 2020.
    14. ↑ "Confirmation of the discovery of a moon around 2015 RR245". Gemini Observatory. August 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
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