(55638) 2002 VE95

(55638) 2002 VE95, prov. designation: 2002 VE95, is a trans-Neptunian object from the outermost region of the Solar System. It was discovered on 14 November 2002, by astronomers with the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking program at the Palomar Observatory in California, United States.[1] This resonant trans-Neptunian object is a member of the plutino population, locked in a 2:3 resonance with Neptune. The object is likely of primordial origin with a heterogeneous surface and a notably reddish color (RR) attributed to the presence of methanol and tholins. It has a poorly defined rotation period of 6.8 hours and measures approximately 250 kilometers (160 miles) in diameter, too small to be a dwarf planet candidate. As of 2021, it has not yet been named.

(55638) 2002 VE95
Discovery[1][2]
Discovered byNEAT
Discovery sitePalomar Obs.
Discovery date14 November 2002
Designations
(55638) 2002 VE95
2002 VE95
TNO[3] · plutino[4][5]
Orbital characteristics[3]
Epoch 1 July 2021 (JD 2459396.5)
Uncertainty parameter 2[3] · 0[1]
Observation arc27.27 yr (9,960 d)
Earliest precovery date12 October 1990
Aphelion50.441 AU
Perihelion27.910 AU
39.176 AU
Eccentricity0.2876
245.21 yr (89,562 d)
29.369°
0° 0m 14.4s / day
Inclination16.327°
199.72°
29 June 2001
206.35°
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter
249.8 km[6][7][8]
6.76 h (ambiguous)[6][9][10]
0.149[7]
20.64[13]
5.3[1][3]
5.70±0.06[7]

    Orbit and classification

    2002 VE95 belongs to the plutino population, named after its largest member, Pluto. Plutinos are resonant trans-Neptunian objects, that are locked in a stable 2:3 mean-motion resonance with Neptune, orbiting the Sun twice for every three orbits Neptune does.[4][5] They form a significantly large part of the inner Kuiper belt, as hundreds of these objects have already been discovered.

    This minor planet orbits the Sun at a distance of 27.9–50.4 AU once every 245 years and 3 months (89,562 days; semi-major axis of 39.18 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.29 and an inclination of 16° with respect to the ecliptic.[3] On 29 June 2001, it came to perihelion and has since been moving away from the Sun. Due to precovery images recovered from the Digitized Sky Survey, the body's observation arc begins already in October 1990, or 12 years prior to its official discovery observation by astronomers with the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking at Palomar.[1]

    Numbering and naming

    2002 VE95 was numbered (55638) by the Minor Planet Center on 16 February 2003 (M.P.C. 47763).[14] As of 2021, it has not been named.[1] According to the established naming conventions for plutinos, it will be named after a mythological figure from the underworld.[15]

    Physical characteristics

    Rotation period

    The rotation period of 2002 VE95 is poorly defined and has ambiguous results with multiple alternative period solutions in between 4.90 and 10 hours.[6] In December 2002, a rotational lightcurve of this object was obtained from photometric observations by astronomers from the Sierra Nevada Observatory in Spain. Lightcurve analysis gave a poorly defined period of 6.76±0.01 hours with a brightness variation of 0.08±0.04 magnitude (U=1+).[9] Two years later in December 2004, it was revisited by the same astronomers, obtaining another poorly defined period of 9.97±0.05 hours with an amplitude of 0.05±0.01 magnitude (U=1+).[10] Other observations by Sheppard only determined an amplitude of less than 0.06 magnitude (U=1).[16]

    Diameter and albedo

    In 2010, observations with the Herschel Space Telescope, using its PACS instrument to measure the object's thermal radiation, gave a mean-diameter of 249.8+13.5
    −13.1     km     with a relatively high albedo of 0.149+0.019
    −0.016     for an absolute magnitude of 5.70±0.06.[7][8] In addition, an asteroid occultations on 3 December 2015, gave a best-fit ellipse dimension of (250.0 km × 250.0 km) with an poor quality rating of 1.[8] These timed observations are taken when the asteroid passes in front of a distant star.[8] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a more regular albedo for a distant object of 0.10 and hence estimates a larger diameter of 297 kilometers.[6]

    Color and composition

    In the visible light, 2002 VE95 has a featureless reflectance spectrum.[17] It is very red in color (RR),[11] with a color index of 1.080 and 0.71, in the B–V and V−R passband filters, respectively.[6][12]

    The near-infrared spectrum of 2002 VE95 is flat with two distinct absorption bands of water ice at 1.5 and 2.0 μm. There is the third feature near 2.3 μm of unclear origin.[18] The spectral behavior of this object is similar to 5145 Pholus, a centaur.[18] Observations with the Very Large Telescope revealed that 2002 VE95 has a heterogeneous surface—the amount of different ices and non-ice components depends on the observed area. Among the probable surface materials are water ice (4–19%), methanol ice (10–12%) and various tholins, photochemically altered organic compounds, also found on Triton and Titan. The redder areas are generally associated with the presence of methanol ice. The surface of 2002 VE95 appears to be primordial in origin.[19]

    References
    1. "55638 (2002 VE95)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
    2. "MPEC 2008-O05 : Distant Minor Planets". Minor Planet Center & Tamkin Foundation Computer Network. 17 July 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
    3. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 55638 (2002 VE95)" (2018-01-18 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
    4. Johnston, Wm. Robert (18 August 2020). "List of Known Trans-Neptunian Objects". Johnston's Archive. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
    5. "Orbit Fit and Astrometric record for 55638". Southwest Research Institute. Retrieved 26 July 2021.The Deep Ecliptic Survey Object Classifications
    6. "LCDB Data for (55638)". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 26 July 2021.
    7. Mommert, M.; Harris, A. W.; Kiss, C.; Pál, A.; Santos-Sanz, P.; Stansberry, J.; et al. (May 2012). "TNOs are cool: A survey of the trans-Neptunian region. V. Physical characterization of 18 Plutinos using Herschel-PACS observations". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 541: A93. arXiv:1202.3657. Bibcode:2012A&A...541A..93M. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201118562. ISSN 0004-6361.
    8. "Asteroid (55638) 2002 VE95 – Nesvorny HCM Asteroid Families V3.0". Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
    9. Ortiz, J. L.; Gutiérrez, P. J.; Santos-Sanz, P.; Casanova, V.; Sota, A. (March 2006). "Short-term rotational variability of eight KBOs from Sierra Nevada Observatory". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 447 (3): 1131–1144. Bibcode:2006A&A...447.1131O. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20053572. ISSN 0004-6361.
    10. Thirouin, A.; Ortiz, J. L.; Duffard, R.; Santos-Sanz, P.; Aceituno, F. J.; Morales, N. (November 2010). "Short-term variability of a sample of 29 trans-Neptunian objects and Centaurs". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 522: A93. arXiv:1004.4841. Bibcode:2010A&A...522A..93T. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200912340. ISSN 0004-6361. S2CID 54039561.
    11. Perna, D.; Barucci, M. A.; Fornasier, S.; DeMeo, F. E.; Alvarez-Candal, A.; Merlin, F.; et al. (February 2010). "Colors and taxonomy of Centaurs and trans-Neptunian objects". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 510: A53. arXiv:0912.2621. Bibcode:2010A&A...510A..53P. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200913654. ISSN 0004-6361. S2CID 55619450.
    12. Tegler, S. C.; Romanishin, W.; Consolmagno, G. J.; J., S. (December 2016). "Two Color Populations of Kuiper Belt and Centaur Objects and the Smaller Orbital Inclinations of Red Centaur Objects". The Astronomical Journal. 152 (6): 210. Bibcode:2016AJ....152..210T. doi:10.3847/0004-6256/152/6/210. ISSN 0004-6256. S2CID 125183388.
    13. "Asteroid (55638) 2002 VE95 – Proper Elements". AstDyS-2, Asteroids – Dynamic Site. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
    14. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
    15. "Naming of Astronomical Objects – Minor planets". IAU – International Astronomical Union. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
    16. Sheppard, Scott S.; Jewitt, David C. (June 2003). "Hawaii Kuiper Belt Variability Project: An Update". Earth, Moon, and Planets. 92 (1): 207–219. Bibcode:2003EM&P...92..207S. doi:10.1023/B:MOON.0000031943.12968.46. ISSN 0167-9295. S2CID 189905992. The Solar System Beyond Neptune, Photometric Lightcurves of Transneptunian Objects and Centaurs: Rotations, Shapes, and Densities, University of Arizona Press, p.129–142
    17. Fornasier, S.; Barucci, M.A.; De Bergh, C.; Alvarez-Candal, A.; Demeo, F.; Merlin, F.; Perna, D.; Guilbert, A.; Delsanti, A.; Dotto, E.; Doressoundiram, A. (2009). "Visible spectroscopy of the new ESO large programme on trans-Neptunian objects and Centaurs: final results". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 508 (1): 457–465. arXiv:0910.0450. Bibcode:2009A&A...508..457F. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200912582. S2CID 8479334.
    18. Barucci, M. A.; Merlin, F.; Dotto, E.; Doressoundiram, A.; De Bergh, C. (2006). "TNO surface ices Observations of the TNO 55638 (2002 VE95) and analysis of the population's spectral properties". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 455 (2): 725–730. Bibcode:2006A&A...455..725B. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20064951.
    19. Barucci, M. A.; Merlin, F.; Perna, D.; Alvarez-Candal, A.; Müller, T.; Mommert, M.; et al. (March 2012). "The extra red plutino (55638) 2002 VE95". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 539: A152. Bibcode:2012A&A...539A.152B. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201118505. ISSN 0004-6361.
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