28978 Ixion
plutino
28978 Ixion is a Kuiper belt object that was found on 22 May, 2001. Ixion is a plutino (an object that has a 2:3 orbital resonance with Neptune) and could be a dwarf planet. Astronomers think that it has a diameter of about 800 km, which makes it the third biggest plutino. It is named after Ixion, a figure from Greek mythology. Before it was named Ixion, it had the provisional designation 2001 KX76.
 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Deep Ecliptic Survey |
| Discovery date | 22 May, 2001 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | 28978 Ixion |
| 2001 KX76 | |
| TNO (plutino)[1] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 31 December, 2006 (JD 2 454 100.5) | |
| Aphelion | 7 370.503 Gm (49.269 AU) |
| Perihelion | 4 501.495 Gm (30.091 AU) |
| 5 935.999 Gm (39.680 AU) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.242 |
| 91 295.847 d (249.95 a) | |
Average orbital speed | 4.66 km/s |
| 268.546° | |
| Inclination | 19.584° |
| 71.028° | |
| 298.779° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | ~650+260 −220 [3] < 822 km diameter[4] |
| < 2.24×106 km² | |
| Volume | < 3.15×108 km³ |
| Mass | ≈3×1020? kg[5] |
Mean density | 2.0? g/cm³ |
| < 0.229 7? m/s² | |
| < 0.434 6? km/s | |
| ? d | |
| Albedo | 0.15-0.37[4] |
| Temperature | ≈44 K |
Spectral type | (moderately red; B-V=1.03, V-R=0.61) |
| 19.6 (opposition) | |
| 3.2[2] | |
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References
change- ↑ Marc W. Buie (12 July 2007). "Orbit Fit and Astrometric record for 28978". SwRI (Space Science Department). Retrieved 29 September 2008.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 28978 Ixion (2001 KX76)". 12 July 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2008.
- ↑ John Stansberry, Will Grundy, Mike Brown, Dale Cruikshank, John Spencer, David Trilling, Jean-Luc Margot (2007). "Physical Properties of Kuiper Belt and Centaur Objects: Constraints from Spitzer Space Telescope". arXiv:astro-ph/0702538.
{{cite arXiv}}: Unknown parameter|work=ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wm. Robert Johnston. "TNO/Centaur diameters and albedos".
- ↑ Using the 2007 Spitzer spherical radius of 325 km; volume of a sphere * an assumed density of 2 g/cm³ yields a mass (m=d*v) of 2.8E+20 kg
