54598 Bienor

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54598 Bienor
Bienor Hubble 2005.png
Bienor imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope on 3 September 2005
Discovery [1]
Discovered by Deep Ecliptic Survey
Discovery site Cerro Tololo Obs.
Discovery date27 August 2000
Designations
(54598) Bienor
Pronunciation /baɪˈiːnɔːr/ [2]
Named after
 Bienor
2000 QC243
centaur [3]  · distant [1]
Orbital characteristics [3]
Epoch 5 May 2025 (JD 2460800.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc 72.28 yr (26,401 d)
Aphelion 19.995 AU
Perihelion 13.192 AU
16.594 AU
Eccentricity 0.2050
67.60 yr (24,690 days)
345.994°
0° 0m 52.491s / day
Inclination 20.727°
337.791°
21 December 2027
152.290°
Known satellites 0
Saturn  MOID 4.066 AU [1]
Uranus  MOID 0.638 AU [1]
Physical characteristics
Dimensions (254±10) × (110±8) × (90±8) km [4] [a]
Mean density
0.55–1.15 g/cm3 [5] : 4157 
9.1736±0.0002 h [4]
30°±3° wrt ecliptic [d]
35°±8° [4]
50°±3° [4]
0.065±0.005 [4]
~19 [1] [9]
7.47±0.04 (2016 average) [5] [e]

    54598 Bienor (provisional designation 2000 QC243) is a centaur orbiting the Sun between Saturn and Uranus in the outer Solar System. Named after the mythological centaur Bienor, it was discovered on 27 August 2000 by the Deep Ecliptic Survey at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. [1] Bienor has a highly elongated shape that spans up to 254 km (158 mi) across its equator to 90 km (56 mi) across its poles. It is one of the largest centaurs with a known size and is one of the first few centaurs that have been observed occulting a star, after 10199 Chariklo, 2060 Chiron, and (95626) 2002 GZ32 . [4]

    Contents

    Like other centaurs, Bienor is believed have originated from the region beyond Neptune in the outer Solar System, where the trans-Neptunian objects reside. The present-day orbit of Bienor is strongly influenced by the gravity of the giant planets, which makes it unstable and subject to ejection within a few million years. [11] [5] Observations have shown that the surface of Bienor is dark gray and contains some water ice, with potentially large amounts of organic compounds. [12] [4] Bienor's brightness periodically fluctuates as it rotates every 9.17 hours, although it exhibits several unusual behaviors such as gradual brightening, which are less easily explained. [5] The unusual behavior of Bienor's brightness alongside other anomalies such as radiometric overestimates of Bienor's diameter have led some astronomers to hypothesize that Bienor might either have an icy ring system, a natural satellite, or albedo variations across its surface. [10] [4]

    History

    Discovery

    The Victor M. Blanco Telescope at Cerro Tololo Observatory, which discovered Bienor in 2000 4m-Victor M. Blanco Telescope cropped.jpg
    The Víctor M. Blanco Telescope at Cerro Tololo Observatory, which discovered Bienor in 2000

    Bienor was discovered on 27 August 2000 by the Deep Ecliptic Survey (DES), [1] an astronomical survey led by astronomers Marc W. Buie, Susan D. Kern, Robert ("Bob") L. Millis, Lawrence H. Wasserman, [13] [14] Eugene I. Chiang, Jessica Lovering, James L. Elliot, Karen J. Meech, David E. Trilling, R. Mark Wagner, and Kelly B. Clancy. [15] [16] The DES operated during 1998–2005 with the goal of finding faint trans-Neptunian objects in the ecliptic region of the sky. [13] [17] One of the telescopes used for the DES was the 4.0-meter Víctor M. Blanco Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, [13] which made the discovery observations of Bienor. [14] Bienor was one of the few objects discovered by the DES whose orbits lay between Jupiter and Neptune. [13] : 119  The discovery of Bienor was announced by the Minor Planet Center (MPC) on 14 October 2000, after the object was reobserved from Lowell Observatory earlier in that month. [14] Since then, several precovery observations of Bienor have been identified, with the earliest set of observations coming from Palomar Observatory's digitally-archived photographs from 12 January 1953. [1]

    Name and number

    The object is named after the centaur Bienor from Greek mythology. [1] This follows the official astronomical naming convention where centaurs in the Solar System are named after centaurs from mythology. [18] : 8  In Greek myth, Bienor was one of the centaurs who attempted to kidnap Pirithous's bride Hippodamia at her wedding, but was killed by the hero Theseus. [1] [19] : 17  The name was suggested by Elaine K. Elliot, the wife of DES team member James ("Jim") Elliot. [19] : 17  The naming of this object was announced by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center on 7 January 2004. [20] : 37 

    Before Bienor was officially named, it was known by its provisional designation 2000 QC243, [1] [5] : 4147  which indicates the year and half-month of the object's discovery date. [21] Bienor's minor planet catalog number of 54598 was given by the Minor Planet Center on 16 February 2003. [22]

    Orbit

    Diagram showing the orbit of Bienor with the outer planets Bienor orbit.png
    Diagram showing the orbit of Bienor with the outer planets

    Bienor orbits the Sun between Saturn and Uranus [11] with an average orbital distance of 16.6  astronomical units (AU) and an orbital period of 67.6 years. [3] It follows an elliptical orbit that brings the object within 13.2 AU from the Sun at perihelion to as far as 20.0 AU at aphelion—slightly crossing outside the orbit of Uranus. [3] The orbit of Bienor is inclined 20.7° with respect to the Earth's orbital plane (also known as the ecliptic). [3] The orbit of Bienor is nearly in a 5:4 mean-motion orbital resonance with Uranus; if Bienor was previously in this resonance, it probably did not last longer than a million years because the resonance would have been destabilized by the gravitational perturbations of other planets. [11]

    Bienor is classified as a centaur, a type of small Solar System body generally [f] defined as orbiting between Jupiter and Neptune and sharing features of both asteroids and comets. [10] : 1  [4] : 1  Centaurs are believed to have originated from the region beyond Neptune (which includes the Kuiper belt and scattered disk), but were gravitationally scattered closer to the Sun due to close encounters with the giant planets, mostly with Neptune. [5] : 4147  [10] : 1  The centaurs are still heavily influenced by the giant planets' gravitational perturbations, which makes their orbits unstable and susceptible to ejection within a few million years. [5] : 4147  [10] : 1  This suggests that the current population of centaurs, including Bienor, was implanted relatively recently in the past few million years, which means that the centaurs should have relatively primitive surface properties similar to trans-Neptunian objects. [10] : 1 

    Observation

    Visual

    Bienor (circled) photographed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey at Apache Point Observatory on 22 September 2004 Bienor SDSS 2004-09-22 annotated.png
    Bienor (circled) photographed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey at Apache Point Observatory on 22 September 2004

    As of 2025, Bienor is located in the northern celestial hemisphere of the sky [g] with an apparent magnitude of around 19. [1] [9] Its apparent magnitude depends on its distance from Earth, approaching 18 at perihelion to nearly 21 at aphelion. [24] As of 2025, Bienor has been observed for over 72 years—more than its orbital period. [3] [1] Bienor's intrinsic brightness, or absolute magnitude, has been observed to vary on short timescales of hours due to the rotation of Bienor's elongated shape, and on long timescales of years for less clear reasons. [5] From 2001 to 2016, Bienor's rotationally-averaged absolute magnitude had brightened from 8.1 to 7.4—the exact cause of this unknown, though possible explanations include either a bright spot on Bienor's surface or a ring system orbiting it. [5] : 4154, 4157  Both scenarios invoke a gradual appearance due to the changing viewing angle of Bienor from Earth during this time interval. [5] : 4157 

    Occultations

    While moving across the sky, Bienor may serendipitously occult a background star—passing in front of the star and briefly blocking out its light from Earth. [19] : 18  Observing stellar occultations by Bienor can provide accurate measurements for its position, shape, size, and can potentially uncover rings or natural satellites, [4] : 2  [5] : 4157  although predicting occultations requires extensive astrometry from observational campaigns beforehand. [19] : 18  [4] : 2  The first successful observation of an occultation by Bienor was reported by a single person on 29 December 2017. [19] : 18  The first Bienor occultation that was successfully observed by multiple people occurred on 11 January 2019, which involved eight different telescope locations in Portugal and Spain (with four of them detecting the occultation). [10] : 2  Bienor was the fourth centaur whose stellar occultation has been simultaneously detected by multiple people, after 10199 Chariklo, 2060 Chiron, and (95626) 2002 GZ32 . [10] : 1  More stellar occultations by Bienor were observed by multiple people in 2022, 2023, and 2024. [4] [25]

    Bienor occultation paths Rizos et al. 2024 Fig 1.tif
    Bienor occultation chords Rizos et al. 2024 Fig 2.tif
    Bienor 2024-Nov-06 occultation chords.jpg
    Left: When Bienor occulted a star on 6 Feb 2022 (a), 26 Dec 2022 (b and c), and 14 Feb 2023 (d), it cast a shadow over populated regions like the East Coast of the United States (a), Japan (b), and Western Europe (c and d). People located in the path of Bienor's shadow were able to observe the object occulting the star. [4] : 3 
    Middle: Silhouettes of Bienor constructed from stellar occultation detections (chords) on 6 Feb 2022 (a; left), 26 Dec 2022 (b; middle), 14 Feb 2023 (c; right). The large number of chords on 26 Dec 2022 reveals the elongated shape of Bienor. [4] : 4 
    Right: Silhouette of Bienor constructed from occultation chords on 6 Nov 2024 [25]

    Physical characteristics

    Size, shape, and density

    Ellipsoid shape model of Bienor fitted to occultation chords from 26 Dec 2022. According to this model, the rotational north pole of Bienor was pointed away from Earth. Bienor 2022-Dec-26 occultation model.png
    Ellipsoid shape model of Bienor fitted to occultation chords from 26 Dec 2022. According to this model, the rotational north pole of Bienor was pointed away from Earth.

    Bienor is a highly elongated object whose shape is approximated as a triaxial ellipsoid with dimensions 254 km × 110 km × 90 km (158 mi × 68 mi × 56 mi). [4] The shortest length of 90 km (56 mi) is parallel to Bienor's rotation axis, whereas the two other axes lie along Bienor's equatorial plane. [4] : 8  Along Bienor's equator, the longest length of 254 km (158 mi) is more than twice as long as the shortest equatorial length of 110 km (68 mi). Astronomers were able to determine Bienor's shape by observing its silhouette from stellar occultations and by measuring periodic changes in its brightness over time. [4] Observations of a stellar occultation on 6 November 2024 suggest that Bienor may be more elongated than the aforementioned ellipsoid approximation, with a maximum length of 275 km (171 mi). [25] However, a formal analysis of the 2024 occultation has not yet been published. [25]

    The size of Bienor may be represented with an area-equivalent diameter (which is based on the amount of surface area visible from Earth), although it can vary due to rotation of its three-dimensional shape. [4] : 6  Radiometric measurements of Bienor's thermal emission by the Herschel Space Observatory and Atacama Large Millimeter Array in 2011 and 2016 have determined an area-equivalent diameter of up to 179 to 184 km (111 to 114 mi), which would make Bienor one of the largest centaurs with measured diameters, after Chariklo, Chiron, and 2002 GZ32. [26] [19] : 18  However, calculations of Bienor's area-equivalent diameter from occultations have consistently found smaller values between 130 and 170 km (81 and 106 mi), [10] : 8  even when Bienor's rotation is taken into account. [4] : 6  The discrepancy between the radiometric and occultation estimates of Bienor's area-equivalent diameter could be caused by either shape irregularities, surface albedo variation, or an unknown satellite of Bienor. [4] : 10 

    Although the mass and density of Bienor have not been measured, it could be estimated from its shape and rotation rate by assuming it is a purely self-gravitating fluid body in hydrostatic equilibrium. [5] [4] : 2  However, it is uncertain whether Bienor is actually in hydrostatic equilibrium. [10] : 8  Nevertheless, estimates for Bienor's possible density range from 0.55 to 1.15 g/cm3, depending on whether Bienor's brightness is affected by some external factor like surface albedo variations or an orbiting ring system. [5] : 4157  Since the densities of small Solar System bodies are expected to scale with size, Bienor's likely density is predicted to be somewhere around 0.7 g/cm3—denser than a small comet nucleus, but less dense than a typical trans-Neptunian object around 500 km (310 mi) in diameter. [5] : 4156–4157 

    Rotation and light curve

    Rotational light curve of Bienor as measured in 2019, showing how its brightness varies over time. The two minima in Bienor's light curve have different depths. Bienor rotational lightcurve Fernandez-Valenzuela et al. 2023 Fig 4.tif
    Rotational light curve of Bienor as measured in 2019, showing how its brightness varies over time. The two minima in Bienor's light curve have different depths.

    Due to Bienor's elongated shape, its apparent brightness oscillates as it rotates every 9.17 hours. [4] : 2, 5  Bienor's rotation period was determined by measuring its brightness over time and plotting it as a light curve; this technique was first applied to Bienor in 2001, [27] although it was not until 2003 that astronomers recognized that Bienor's correct rotation period should be around nine hours. [28] : 1151  Over the duration of Bienor's rotation, its light curve exhibits two distinct pairs of peaks and troughs whose minima differ by roughly 0.1 magnitudes; [10] : 11  this could be caused by either an irregular shape, surface albedo variations at Bienor's poles, [5] : 4157  or an orbiting satellite or ring. [4] : 9 

    Bienor rotates in the prograde direction with respect to Earth's orbit (the ecliptic), with its rotational north pole pointing in the direction of the ecliptic coordinates (λ, β) = (35°, +50°). [4] : 10  This translates to an axial tilt of 30° with respect to the ecliptic. [d] The direction of Bienor's rotation pole was determined via observations of stellar occultations and long-term changes in Bienor's light curve. [4] In particular, the amount of brightness variation or amplitude of Bienor's light curve was observed to gradually decrease between 2001 and 2016, due to the changing viewing angle of Bienor's rotation from Earth. [5] : 4152  Bienor's light curve amplitude was about 0.6 magnitudes in 2001, and reached a minimum of 0.08 magnitudes in 2015—when its pole was nearly pointed towards Earth. [5] : 4152, 4156  Bienor's light curve amplitude will maximize around 2030, when Bienor's equatorial plane aligns with Earth's line of sight—this will be an edge-on configuration. [5] : 4156 

    Surface color and composition

    Comparison of sizes, albedos, and colors of various large centaurs with measured diameters. Bienor is shown on the middle row, second from the left. Centaur size color comparison.svg
    Comparison of sizes, albedos, and colors of various large centaurs with measured diameters. Bienor is shown on the middle row, second from the left.

    Bienor is a dark object that appears "spectrally neutral" or gray in visible light, [7] similar to many other centaurs. [4] : 2  Compared to other dark gray centaurs whose median geometric albedo is 5%, [4] : 2  Bienor is slightly more reflective with a geometric albedo of 6.5%. [4] : 10  Based on Bienor's color in visible light, astronomers have categorized it as a member of the BR ("blue-red") group of trans-Neptunian objects. [7] : 186  [8]

    Near-infrared spectroscopy by telescopes on Earth have detected water ice in the surface of Bienor. [4] : 2  Analysis of Bienor's near-infrared spectrum in 2009 suggests that 13% of its surface is composed of crystalline water ice with grains 39 μm in size, [29] : 278  although the concentration of water ice has been observed to vary across different years, possibly due to changes in the viewing angle of Bienor from Earth. [5] : 4157  The remaining fraction of Bienor's surface composition may be largely organic compounds. [12] : 413  The James Webb Space Telescope has observed Bienor via mid-infrared spectroscopy in 2024, [30] : 2  but was unable to find any recognizable spectral features that could be attributed to known compounds. [30] : 12 

    Possible ring or satellite

    Bienor has received scientific interest from astronomers because it was suspected that Bienor may share certain features with Chariklo and Chiron—particularly their rings. [5] : 4147  [10] : 1  In 2017, a team of researchers led by Estela Fernández-Valenzuela proposed that a narrow ring of icy material encircling Bienor could explain its various peculiarities, such as its overestimated area-equivalent diameter from radiometry, long-term change in absolute magnitude with viewing angle, and variation in water ice concentration. [5] : 4156–4157  [10] : 10  Alternatively, Bienor's peculiarities could instead be explained by the existence of a natural satellite or moon. [10] : 11  [4] : 2, 10  No signs of rings and satellites were detected in stellar occultations by Bienor in 2019–2024, although this does not rule out their possible existence around Bienor. [10] : 10  [4] : 10  [25] It is possible that a ring of Bienor could have evaded detection because it was either too narrow or too transparent; observations of the 2019 occultation suggest that any possible ring around Bienor would either have to be narrower than 1.7 km (1.1 mi) in radial width at 100% opacity, or narrower than 3.4 km (2.1 mi) at 50% opacity. [10] : 10–11  On the other hand, the properties of a hypothetical satellite around Bienor remain unconstrained by the available observational data on Bienor. [4] : 10 

    Exploration concepts

    The spacecraft exploration of Bienor was discussed in a 2008–2011 NASA case study on a hypothetical radioisotope electric propulsion (REP)-powered orbiter mission to a centaur. [31] : 6  [32] : 71  Bienor was initially considered a potential exploration target for this REP centaur orbiter mission, but it ended up being replaced by 32532 Thereus because Bienor was deemed incompatible with the mission's time and mass constraints. [31] : 6  [32] : 17, 71  In another centaur mission concept proposed for NASA's 2023 Planetary Science Decadal Survey, dubbed the Centaur ORbiter And Lander (CORAL), Bienor was listed as a "Top-Interest" target alongside other centaurs like Chiron and Chariklo. [23] : 10  However, all of these were dropped in favor of the more accessible target (433873) 2015 BQ311 . [23]

    See also

    Notes

    1. ↑ Note that Rizos et al. (2024) originally give Bienor's ellipsoid dimensions in terms of a, b, c semi-axes (radius for each orthogonal direction). [4]
    2. ↑ The area-equivalent diameter of 179–184 ± 6 km was radiometrically measured from Herschel Space Observatory and Atacama Large Millimeter Array observations of Bienor's thermal radiation in 2011 and 2016. [4] : 6 
    3. ↑ The area-equivalent diameter of 158±16 km was calculated from the projected surface area of Bienor in 2011 and 2016, using the dimensions of 254 × 110 × 90 km in Rizos et al. (2024). [4] : 6  Note that it does not match the radiometrically measured area-equivalent diameter of 179–184 ± 6 km; this could be either due to shape irregularities, surface albedo variation, or an unknown natural satellite. [4] : 6, 10 
    4. 1 2 The axial tilt or obliquity i with respect to the ecliptic can be obtained from ecliptic latitude via subtracting from the ecliptic north pole (+90°): . β is the ecliptic latitude of Bienor's north pole direction, in degrees.
    5. ↑ Due to Bienor's elongated shape, its apparent and absolute magnitude can vary by 0.3 magnitudes as it rotates over time. [4] : 5–6  Additionally, Bienor's absolute magnitude has been observed to gradually change over timescales of years. [5] : 4154, 4157  Observations from 2016 measure a rotationally-averaged absolute magnitude of 7.47±0.04. [10] : 7  [5] : 4150 
    6. ↑ There is no universally agreed definition of a centaur, as different researchers have argued for using different criteria (see Centaur (small Solar System body)#Discrepant criteria). [4] : 1  Regardless, centaurs are broadly cited as orbiting between Jupiter and Neptune. [5] [10] : 1  [23] : 2 
    7. ↑ The northern celestial hemisphere includes any part of the sky that has a declination greater than 0° (positive). The declination of Bienor's current location in the sky is positive, and will slowly change due to its slow orbital motion. [1] [9]

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "(54598) Bienor = 2000 QC243". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
    2. ↑ Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
    3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "JPL Small-Body Database Lookup: 54598 Bienor (2000 QC243)" (2025-04-25 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory . Retrieved 10 September 2025.
    4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 Rizos, J. L.; Fernández-Valenzuela, E.; Ortiz, J. L.; Rommel, F. L.; Sicardy, B.; Morales, N.; et al. (September 2024). "A study of centaur (54598) Bienor from multiple stellar occultations and rotational light curves". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 689: A82. arXiv: 2405.17235 . Bibcode:2024A&A...689A..82R. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202450833 . S2CID   270064051.
    5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Fernández-Valenzuela, E.; Ortiz, J. L.; Duffard, R.; Morales, N.; Santos-Sanz, P. (April 2017). "Physical properties of centaur (54598) Bienor from photometry". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 466 (4): 4147–4158. arXiv: 1612.02626 . Bibcode:2017MNRAS.466.4147F. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stw3264 . S2CID   118929617.
    6. ↑ Johnston, Wm. Robert (19 June 2025). "List of Known Trans-Neptunian Objects". Johnston's Archive. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
    7. 1 2 3 Fulchignoni, Marcello; Belskaya, Irina; Barucci, Maria Antonietta; De Sanctis, Maria Cristina; Doressoundiram, Alain (2008). "Transneptunian Object Taxonomy" (PDF). The Solar System Beyond Neptune. University of Arizona Press. pp. 181–192. Bibcode:2008ssbn.book..181F. ISBN   9780816527557. S2CID   54970643.
    8. 1 2 3 4 5 Belskaya, Irina N.; Barucci, Maria A.; Fulchignoni, Marcello; Lazzarin, M. (April 2015). "Updated taxonomy of trans-neptunian objects and centaurs: Influence of albedo". Icarus. 250: 482–491. Bibcode:2015Icar..250..482B. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2014.12.004.
    9. 1 2 3 "AstDys (95626) 2002GZ32 Ephemerides". Asteroids - Dynamic Site. Department of Mathematics, University of Pisa, Italy. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
    10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Fernández-Valenzuela, E.; Morales, N.; Vara-Lubiano, M.; Ortiz, J. L.; Benedetti-Rossi, G.; Sicardy, B.; et al. (January 2023). "The multichord stellar occultation by the centaur Bienor on January 11, 2019". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 669: A112. arXiv: 2211.06931 . Bibcode:2023A&A...669A.112F. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202243214 . S2CID   253510891.
    11. 1 2 3 Masaki, Y.; Kinoshita, H. (May 2003). "Candidate Centaurs trapped in mean motion resonances with Uranus". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 403: 769–774. Bibcode:2003A&A...403..769M. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361:20030383 . S2CID   121594667.
    12. 1 2 Dotto, E., E.; Barucci, M. A.; Boehnhardt, H.; Romon, J.; Doressoundiram, A.; Peixinho, N.; et al. (April 2003). "Searching for water ice on 47171 1999 TC36, 1998 SG35, and 2000 QC243: ESO large program on TNOs and centaurs". Icarus. 162 (2): 408–414. Bibcode:2003Icar..162..408D. doi:10.1016/S0019-1035(03)00023-X. S2CID   120250069.
    13. 1 2 3 4 Buie, M. W.; Millis, R. L.; Wasserman, L. H.; Elliot, J. L.; Kern, S. D.; Clancy, K. B.; et al. (June 2003). "Procedures, Resources and Selected Results of the Deep Ecliptic Survey" (PDF). Earth, Moon, and Planets. 92 (1): 113–124. arXiv: astro-ph/0309251 . Bibcode:2003EM&P...92..113B. doi:10.1023/B:MOON.0000031930.13823.be. S2CID   14820512.
    14. 1 2 3 Wasserman, L. H.; Buie, M. W.; Kern, S. D.; Millis, R. L.; Elliot, J. L.; Pate, J. A.; et al. (14 October 2000). "MPEC 2000-T42 : 2000 OO67, 2000 OP67, 2000 QA243, 2000 QB243, QC243". Minor Planet Electronic Circular. 2000-T42. Minor Planet Center. Bibcode:2000MPEC....T...42W . Retrieved 10 September 2025.
    15. ↑ "Deep Ecliptic Survey: The Team". Lowell Observatory. Archived from the original on 7 February 2006.
    16. ↑ Elliot, J. L.; Kern, S. D.; Gulbis, A. A. S.; Millis, R. L.; Buie, M. W.; Wasserman, L. H.; et al. (February 2005). "The Deep Ecliptic Survey: A Search for Kuiper Belt Objects and Centaurs. II. Dynamical Classification, the Kuiper Belt Plane, and the Core Population". The Astronomical Journal. 129 (2): 1117–1162. Bibcode:2005AJ....129.1117E. doi:10.1086/427395. S2CID   19385887.
    17. ↑ Buie, Marc W. "The Deep Ecliptic Survey". Southwest Research Institute. Archived from the original on 28 April 2025.
    18. ↑ "Rules and Guidelines for Naming Non-Cometary Small Solar-System Bodies" (PDF). IAU Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature. 22 February 2025. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
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    20. ↑ "M.P.C. 50465" (PDF). Minor Planet Circulars (50465). Minor Planet Center: 37. 7 January 2004. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
    21. ↑ "New- And Old-Style Minor Planet Designations". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
    22. ↑ "M.P.C. 47753" (PDF). Minor Planet Circulars (47753). Minor Planet Center: 315. 16 February 2003. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
    23. 1 2 3 Abell, Paul; Chabot, Nancy; Connoly Jr., Harold; Eigenbrode, Jennifer; Milam, Stefanie; Quick, Lynnae; et al. (October 2023). "Centaur ORbiter And Lander: Mission Concept Study to Report to the NRC Planetary Science Decadal Survey" (PDF). NASA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 April 2025. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
    24. ↑ "Horizons Batch for 54598 Bienor (2000 QC243) from 1950-Jan-01 to 2100-Jan-01". JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System . Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
    25. 1 2 3 4 5 de Ory Guimera, Victor; Santos-Sanz, Pablo; Catani, Luan; Rizos, Juan Luis; Ortiz, José Luis; Kiliç, Yücel; et al. (September 2025). The 6 November 2024, stellar occultation by the Centaur (54598) Bienor: preliminary results. EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2025. Vol. 18. Helsinki, Finland. pp. EPSC-DPS2025-518. doi: 10.5194/epsc-dps2025-518 .
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    27. ↑ Ortiz, J. L.; Baumont, S.; Gutiérrez, P. J.; Roos-Serote, M. (June 2002). "Lightcurves of Centaurs 2000 QC243 and 2001 PT13". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 388: 661–666. Bibcode:2002A&A...388..661O. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361:20020487 . S2CID   56111611.
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