(15874) 1996 TL66

(15874) 1996 TL₆₆ (also written (15874) 1996 TL66) is a trans-Neptunian object that resides in the scattered disc.

[edit] Discovered

Discovered in 1996 by David C. Jewitt et al., it was the first object to be categorized as a scattered disk object (SDO), although (48639) 1995 TL₈, discovered a year earlier, was later recognised as a scattered disk object. It was one of the largest known Kuiper belt objects at the time of the discovery.

[edit] Orbit and Size

1996 TL₆₆ orbits the Sun with a semi-major axis of 85.33 AU. Its diameter has been estimated at around 630 km by combined optical/thermal observations.^[3]

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} 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". University of Arizona, Lowell Observatory, California Institute of Technology, NASA Ames Research Center, Southwest Research Institute, Cornell University. http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0702538v2. Retrieved on 2008-01-24. 
2. ^ Using the 2007 Spitzer spherical radius of 287.5 km; volume of a sphere * an assumed density of 2 g/cm³ yields a mass (m=d*v) of 1.99E+20 kg
3. ^ Wm. Robert Johnston (22 April 2008). "List of Known Trans-Neptunian Objects". Johnston's Archive. http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/astro/tnoslist.html. Retrieved on 2006-02-07. 

[edit] External links

• First MPEC listing for (15874) 1996 TL₆₆
• 1996 TL₆₆: A New Type of Transneptunian Object — CfA news release
• 1996 TL₆₆, a Newly Discovered Planetesimal
• 1996 TL₆₆ - A New Dynamical Class in the Outer Solar System — from David Jewitt's Kuiper Belt website
• IAU minor planet lists

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