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Vanth (moon)

Moon of Orcus

Vanth is a natural satellite or moon of the large trans-Neptunian dwarf planet Orcus. It was discovered by Michael Brown and Terry-Ann Suer using images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope on 13 November 2005. The moon has a diameter of 443 km (275 mi), making it about half the size of Orcus and the third-largest moon of a trans-Neptunian object. Vanth is massive enough that it shifts the barycenter of the Orcus–Vanth system outside of Orcus, forming a binary system in which the two bodies revolve around the barycenter, much like the Pluto–Charon system. It is hypothesized that both systems formed similarly, most likely by a giant impact early in the Solar System's history. Compared to Orcus, Vanth has a darker and slightly redder surface that supposedly lacks exposed water ice, resembling primordial Kuiper belt objects.

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File:Orcus-vanth_hst2.jpgFile:Orcus_Vanth_orbit.pngFile:Orcus-Vanth_orbit.gifFile:Binary_dwarf_planets_scale_comparison.png
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