486958 Arrokoth
Kuiper belt object / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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486958 Arrokoth (provisional designation 2014 MU69; formerly nicknamed Ultima Thule[lower-alpha 1]) is a trans-Neptunian object located in the Kuiper belt. Arrokoth became the farthest and most primitive object in the Solar System visited by a spacecraft when the NASA space probe New Horizons conducted a flyby on 1 January 2019.[17][18][19] Arrokoth is a contact binary 36 km (22 mi) long, composed of two planetesimals 21 and 15 km (13 and 9 mi) across, that are joined along their major axes. With an orbital period of about 298 years and a low orbital inclination and eccentricity, Arrokoth is classified as a cold classical Kuiper belt object.
Discovery [1][2] | |||||||||
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Discovered by | |||||||||
Discovery site | Hubble Space Telescope | ||||||||
Discovery date | 26 June 2014 | ||||||||
Designations | |||||||||
(486958) Arrokoth | |||||||||
Pronunciation | /ˈærəkɒθ/ | ||||||||
Named after | Powhatan word arrokoth, glossed 'sky' but probably meaning 'cloud' | ||||||||
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Orbital characteristics[2][5] | |||||||||
Epoch 27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5) | |||||||||
Uncertainty parameter 2 | |||||||||
Observation arc | 2.33 yr (851 days) | ||||||||
Aphelion | 46.442 AU | ||||||||
Perihelion | 42.721 AU | ||||||||
44.581 AU | |||||||||
Eccentricity | 0.04172 | ||||||||
297.67 yr | |||||||||
316.551° | |||||||||
0° 0m 11.92s / day | |||||||||
Inclination | 2.4512° | ||||||||
158.998° | |||||||||
174.418° | |||||||||
Physical characteristics | |||||||||
Dimensions | Overall best fit: 35.95 × 19.90 × 9.75 km[6] Wenu 21.20 × 19.90 × 9.05 km[6] Weeyo 15.75 × 13.85 × 9.75 km[6] | ||||||||
Mean diameter | Overall volume equivalent: 18.26 km[6] Wenu 15.86 km[6] Weeyo 12.79 km[6] | ||||||||
Volume | 3185 km3[6] | ||||||||
Mass | ~ 7.485×1014 kg (assumed nominal density)[6] | ||||||||
Mean density | ~ 0.235 g/cm3 (nominal) 1-sigma range: 0.155–0.600 g/cm3[6] | ||||||||
Equatorial surface gravity | ~ 0.0001 g ~ 0.001 m/s2[7]: 28:45 | ||||||||
15.9380±0.0005 h[8] | |||||||||
99.3°[9] | |||||||||
North pole right ascension | 317.5°±1°[10] | ||||||||
North pole declination | −24.89°±1°[10][9] | ||||||||
0.21+0.05 −0.04 (geometric)[11] 0.062±0.015 (Bond)[11] | |||||||||
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V−I=1.35[12] G−I=1.42±0.14[13] G−R=0.95±0.14[13] | |||||||||
26.6[12] | |||||||||
Arrokoth was discovered on 26 June 2014 by astronomer Marc Buie and the New Horizons Search Team using the Hubble Space Telescope as part of a search for a Kuiper-belt object for New Horizons to target in its first extended mission; it was chosen over two other candidates, 2014 OS393 and 2014 PN70, to become the primary target of the mission.[20]