(15874) 1996 TL66
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(15874) 1996 TL66 (provisional designation 1996 TL66) is a trans-Neptunian object of the scattered disc orbiting in the outermost region of the Solar System.[2][3]
Discovery[1] | |
---|---|
Discovered by | D. C. Jewitt J. X. Luu J. Chen C. A. Trujillo |
Discovery site | Mauna Kea Obs. |
Discovery date | 9 October 1996 |
Designations | |
(15874) 1996 TL66 | |
1996 TL66 | |
TNO[2] · SDO[3] distant[4] | |
Orbital characteristics[2] | |
Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 2 | |
Observation arc | 5883 days (16.11 yr) |
Aphelion | 131.75 AU (19.710 Tm) |
Perihelion | 35.057 AU (5.2445 Tm) |
83.403 AU (12.4769 Tm) | |
Eccentricity | 0.57967 |
761.70 yr (278211 d) | |
6.8505° | |
0° 0m 4.658s / day | |
Inclination | 24.006° |
217.82° | |
184.79° | |
Physical characteristics | |
Mean diameter | 339±20 km[5] 575±115 km[6] |
12 h (0.50 d)[2] | |
0.110+0.021 −0.015[5] 0.035+0.02 −0.01[6] | |
B–V = 0.687±0.072[7] V–R = 0.369±0.052[7] | |
21[8] | |
5.4[2] | |
The Spitzer Space Telescope has estimated this object to be about 575 kilometres (357 mi) in diameter,[6] but 2012 estimates from the Herschel Space Observatory estimate the diameter as closer to 339 kilometres (211 mi).[5] It is not a detached object, since its perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) is under the influence of Neptune.[3] Light-curve-amplitude analysis suggests that it is a spheroid.[9] Tancredi presents "in the form of a decision tree, the set of questions to be considered in order to classify an object as an icy 'dwarf planet'." They find that (15874) 1996 TL66 is very probably a dwarf planet.[10] Mike Brown's website, using a radiometrically determined diameter of 344 kilometres (214 mi), lists it as a possible dwarf planet.[11]