, provisionally known

Provisional designation in astronomy

Provisional designation in astronomy is the naming convention applied to astronomical objects immediately following their discovery. The provisional designation is usually superseded by a permanent designation once a reliable orbit has been calculated...

 as 2000 YW134, is a binary trans-Neptunian object

Trans-Neptunian object

A trans-Neptunian object is any minor planet in the Solar System that orbits the Sun at a greater distance on average than Neptune.The first trans-Neptunian object to be discovered was Pluto in 1930...

 (TNO). It is classified as a scattered disc

Scattered disc

The scattered disc is a distant region of the Solar System that is sparsely populated by icy minor planets, a subset of the broader family of trans-Neptunian objects. The scattered-disc objects have orbital eccentricities ranging as high as 0.8, inclinations as high as 40°, and perihelia greater...

 object and, possibly, a detached object.

Physical characteristics

Assuming a generic TNO albedo of 0.09, the primary is about 431 km in diameter and the secondary 237 km in diameter. In 2010 2000 YW134 was observered by the Herschel Space Telescope in the far-infrared. No thermal radiation has been detected, which allowed astronomers to place an a upper limit on its size—the object (assuming it is singular) should be less than 500 km in diameter.

In the visible the surface of 2000 YW134 is moderately red.

Classifications

Dwarf planet?

With a generically estimated diameter of 431 km, 2000 YW₁₃₄ is near the lower limit for the minimum size of a dwarf-planet candidate. But as a dwarf-planet candidate, the large moon could give the binary system a double planet

Double planet

In astronomy, double planet and binary planet are informal terms used to describe a binary system of two astronomical objects that each satisfy the definition of planet and that are near enough to each other to have a significant gravitational effect on each other compared with the effect of the...

 appearance when viewed from a distance.

Detached object?

2000 YW₁₃₄ currently has a perihelion

Apsis

An apsis , plural apsides , is the point of greatest or least distance of a body from one of the foci of its elliptical orbit. In modern celestial mechanics this focus is also the center of attraction, which is usually the center of mass of the system...

 (q) distance of 41 AU

Astronomical unit

An astronomical unit is a unit of length equal to about or approximately the mean Earth–Sun distance....

. Lykawka (2006) using a 4–5 Gyr integration seems to show 2000 YW₁₃₄ as a detached object (with perihelion (q) > 40 AU). The Deep Ecliptic Survey

Deep Ecliptic Survey

The Deep Ecliptic Survey is a project to find Kuiper belt objects , using the facilities of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory .The principal investigator is Bob Millis....

 (DES) using a 10My integration (last observation: 2007-11-10) shows it in a 8:3 resonance

Resonant trans-Neptunian object

In astronomy, a resonant trans-Neptunian object is a trans-Neptunian object in mean motion orbital resonance with Neptune. The orbital periods of the resonant objects are in a simple integer relations with the period of Neptune e.g. 1:2, 2:3 etc...

 with a minimum perihelion (qmin) distance of 38.1 AU. Emel’yanenko and Kiseleva in 2007 show a 84% chance that it is in the 8:3 resonance.

Satellite

The moon of 2000 YW₁₃₄ is relatively large compared to the primary, because the moon is only 1.3 magnitudes

Apparent magnitude

The apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere...

fainter than the primary.

External links

• Orbital simulation from JPL (Java) / Horizons Ephemeris