(55637) 2002 UX25
2002 UX25 as seen by Hubble
|
|
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Spacewatch (291) |
| Discovery site | Kitt Peak National Obs. |
| Discovery date | 30 October 2002 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | (55637) 2002 UX25 |
|
Cubewano (MPC) Extended (DES) |
|
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 16 February 2017 (JD 2457800.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 3 | |
| Observation arc | 24.15 yr (8,819 days) |
| Aphelion | 48.555 AU |
| Perihelion | 36.473 AU |
| 42.514 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1421 |
| 277.20 yr (101,249 days) | |
|
Average orbital speed
|
4.54 km/s |
| 295.18° | |
| 0° 0m 12.96s / day | |
| Inclination | 19.484° |
| 204.68° | |
| 278.90° | |
| Known satellites | 1 (ø: ~ 190–260 km) |
| Earth MOID | 35.5450 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 31.5390 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 665±29 km |
| Mass | (1.25±0.03)×1020 kg |
|
Mean density
|
0.82±0.11 g/cm3 (assuming equal densities for primary and satellite) |
|
Equatorial surface gravity
|
0.075 m/s2 |
|
Equatorial escape velocity
|
0.227 km/s |
| 14.382 h (0.5993 d) | |
|
Sidereal rotation period
|
14.382±0.001 h |
|
0.107+0.005 −0.008 |
|
| Temperature | ≈ 43 K |
| (pushing red) B−V=1.12 V−R=0.61 B−V=0.95 V−R=0.56 U−B=0.26 B−V=0.98 V−R=0.54±0.03 B−R=1.52 V−I=1.13±0.05 R−J=1.28 V−J=1.82±0.09 J−H=0.4±0.05 V−H=2.22 |
|
| 19.8 | |
| 3.87±0.02, 4.0 | |
(55637) 2002 UX25 is a possible dwarf planet that orbits the Sun in the Kuiper belt beyond Neptune. Its orbit takes roughly 280 years, and it has one known moon. This moon makes it much easier to calculate mass, and when the size is known, also a density. The low density of about 0.82 g/cm3 surprised astronomers.
It is a trans-Neptunian object with an absolute magnitude of 4.0, making it highly likely to be a dwarf planet. The Spitzer Space Telescope results estimate it to be about 681 km in diameter. It was discovered on 30 October 2002, by the Spacewatch program. It is a mid-sized cubewano similar in size to 20000 Varuna.
(55637) 2002 UX25 has a perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) of 36.7 AU, which it will next reach in 2065. As of 2010, (55637) 2002 UX25 is 41 AU from the Sun.
The Minor Planet Center (MPC) classifies (55637) 2002 UX25 as a cubewano while the Deep Ecliptic Survey (DES) classifies it as scattered-extended. The DES using a 10 My integration (last observation: 2009-10-22) shows it with a minimum perihelion (qmin) distance of 36.3 AU.
(55637) 2002 UX25 has been observed 60 times with precovery images back to 1991.
(55637) 2002 UX25 has an estimated diameter of 665±29 km, and most icy objects around 400 km in diameter are thought to be spherical.Michael Brown's website lists it as highly likely a dwarf planet. However, light-curve analysis has questioned whether it is actually a dwarf planet.
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