(55637) 2002 UX25

(55637) 2002 UX25
2002 UX25 and satellite, as seen by Hubble
Discovery[1]
Discovered bySpacewatch (291)
Discovery siteKitt Peak National Obs.
Discovery date30 October 2002
Designations
(55637) 2002 UX25
Cubewano (MPC)[2]
Extended (DES)[3]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 2
Observation arc25.26 yr (9,228 days)
Earliest precovery date12 October 1991
Aphelion48.491 AU
Perihelion36.485 AU
42.488 AU
Eccentricity0.1413
276.95 yr (101,157 days)
4.54 km/s
295.71°
0° 0m 12.96s / day
Inclination19.484°
204.68°
≈ 5 September 2066[4]
±3 days
279.00°
Known satellites1
(ø: 190–260 km)[5][6]
Physical characteristics
665±29 km[7]
659±38 km[8]
Mass(1.25±0.03)×1020 kg[6]
Mean density
0.82±0.11 g/cm3
(assuming equal densities
for primary and satellite)[6]
0.80±0.13 g/cm3[8]
Equatorial surface gravity
0.075 m/s2
Equatorial escape velocity
0.227 km/s
14.382±0.001 h[9]
0.107+0.005
−0.008
[7]
0.1±0.01[8]
Temperature≈ 43 K
B–V=1.007±0.043[10]
V−R=0.540±0.030[10]
V−I=1.046±0.034[10]
19.8 [11]
3.87±0.02,[9] 4.0[1]

(55637) 2002 UX25 (provisional designation 2002 UX25) is a trans-Neptunian object that orbits the Sun in the Kuiper belt beyond Neptune. It briefly garnered scientific attention when it was found to have an unexpectedly low density of about 0.82 g/cm3.[12] It was discovered on 30 October 2002, by the Spacewatch program;[13] as of August 2024, the object has yet to be named.

2002 UX25 has an absolute magnitude of about 4.0,[1] and Spitzer Space Telescope results estimate it to be about 681 km in diameter.[14] The low density of this and many other mid-sized TNOs implies that they have never compressed into fully solid bodies, let alone differentiated or collapsed into hydrostatic equilibrium, and so are highly unlikely to be dwarf planets.[15]

  1. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference jpldata was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPEC 2009-C70 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Buie was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ JPL Horizons Observer Location: @sun (Perihelion occurs when deldot changes from negative to positive. Uncertainty in time of perihelion is 3-sigma.)
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference IAUC8812 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Brown2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference TNOsCool8 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Brown2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Johnston was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Hainaut2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference AstDys was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference cowen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPEC2002-V08 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference spitzer was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ W.M. Grundy, K.S. Noll, M.W. Buie, S.D. Benecchi, D. Ragozzine & H.G. Roe, 'The Mutual Orbit, Mass, and Density of Transneptunian Binary Gǃkúnǁʼhòmdímà ((229762) 2007 UK126)', Icarus (forthcoming, available online 30 March 2019) Archived 7 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2018.12.037,

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