(48639) 1995 TL8

(48639) 1995 TL₈ (also written (48639) 1995 TL8) is a trans-Neptunian object of the Scattered disk object (SDO) subclass, and possesses a very large satellite.

[edit] Discovery

Discovered in 1995 by Arianna E. Gleason as part of the Spacewatch project, it was the first of the bodies presently classified as a Scattered disk object (SDO) to be discovered, preceding the SDO prototype (15874) 1996 TL₆₆ by almost a year.

[edit] Satellite

A relative size and distance comparison of the (48639) 1995 TL₈ system with the Earth / Moon system. The scale of the Earth / Moon system has been reduced so Earth appears the same size as the (48639) 1995 TL₈ primary.

A companion was discovered by Denise C. Stephens and Keith S. Noll from observations with the Hubble Space Telescope taken on November 9, 2002 and announced on October 5, 2005. The satellite, designated S/2002 (48639) 1, is relatively large, having a likely mass of about 10% of the primary. Its orbit has not been determined, but it was at a separation of only about 420 km to the primary at the time of discovery, with a possible orbital period of about half a day and an estimated diameter of 161 km [1].

[edit] General

(48639) 1995 TL₈ is unusual in being one of the few objects with a perihelion beyond 40 AU, well outside of Neptune's orbit.

The diameters given are derived from an albedo guess of 0.09, being typical for trans-Neptunian objects [2].

[edit] External links

• 1999 MPEC listing
• 2000 MPEC listing
• list of known TNOs, including size estimates
• Johnston Archive entry about the satellite
• IAU minor planet lists

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