2007UK126: new potential dwarf planet discovered in the scattered disc

[h2ouniverse]

<p>Late february the discovery of 2007UK126 has been announced by M. E. Schwamb, M. E. Brown, D. Rabinowitz. This TNO orbits from 37.5 AU to 108.5 AU. It is currently at about 46 AU from Sun, with an apparent magnitude of about 20.</p><p>Initially thought to be of absolute magnitude of 4, precovery images have been analyzed and have led the figure to be revised at 3.5. This leads to a product albedo x&nbsp;cross section larger&nbsp;than those of 2002 TC302 and Varuna. It is&nbsp;the third Scattered Disc Object by absolute magnitude after Eris and Sedna.</p><p>If the albedo is between 0.05 and 0.25, its diameter will be between 500 and 1200km, making it a good candidate to dwarfplanethood.</p><p>&nbsp;http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/mpec/K08/K08D38.html</p><p>See orbit at jpl site: http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007uk126&orb=1</p><p>&nbsp;Cool to see that they are still discovering large objects beneath 50AU. This confirms that even out of Milky Way (the three quarters of the vault), not too far from ecliptic, and with a daily drift not slower than&nbsp;Eris' one, there are still objects to spot.</p>

 

[3488]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'><font color="#ff0000">Late february the discovery of 2007UK126 has been announced by M. E. Schwamb, M. E. Brown, D. Rabinowitz. This TNO orbits from 37.5 AU to 108.5 AU. It is currently at about 46 AU from Sun, with an apparent magnitude of about 20.Initially thought to be of absolute magnitude of 4, precovery images have been analyzed and have led the figure to be revised at 3.5. This leads to a product albedo x&nbsp;cross section larger&nbsp;than those of 2002 TC302 and Varuna. It is&nbsp;the third Scattered Disc Object by absolute magnitude after Eris and Sedna.If the albedo is between 0.05 and 0.25, its diameter will be between 500 and 1200km, making it a good candidate to dwarfplanethood.&nbsp;http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/mpec/K08/K08D38.htmlSee orbit at jpl site: http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007uk126&orb=1Cool to see that they are still discovering large objects beneath 50AU. This confirms that even out of Milky Way (the three quarters of the vault), not too far from ecliptic, and with a daily drift not slower than&nbsp;Eris' one, there are still objects to spot. <br />Posted by h2ouniverse</font></DIV></p><p><strong><font size="2">Hi Joel,</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">Its good to see you again.</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">Thanks for this, this is further evidence that there are a large number of large bodies in the KB. </font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">Generally it was thought that the accretion process this far out from the Sun prevented full sized planetary bodies forming, with perhaps KBOs Eris & Pluto, being towards the upper limit. However, if we see a large number of these, then the chances of a larger full planetary sized / massed body increases.</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">Andrew Brown.</font></strong><strong></strong></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[h2ouniverse]

<p>Hi Andrew</p><p>This big TNO could prove interesting in itself btw. Its aphelion is beyond Eris'one. Its perihelion is beneath Eris'one. But the values are not that far from the ones of Eris. Eris, now close to its aphelion&nbsp;is extremely bright, apparently due to recondensation of gases (N2?).</p><p>On the opposite, 2007UK126 is approaching its perihelion quite fast. Within 2020, it will have come closer to Sun by 10%, that is 20% more sunlight. It will reach its perihelion in 2046. At that time it will be closer to the Sun than Pluto.</p><p>It is an opportunity to observe the reformation of the atmosphere as several phase transitions occur for the different chemical components. Provided that it is large enough... If the thawing has not yet begun, then one might expect a ultra-high albedo as for Eris, hence a small diameter (<300km). Otherwise, the albedo might be already below 0.11, hence a diameter >800km...</p><p>Best regards.</p>