2021 RR205

2021 RR205 is an extreme trans-Neptunian object and sednoid discovered by astronomers Scott Sheppard, David Tholen, and Chad Trujillo with the Subaru Telescope at Mauna Kea Observatory on 5 September 2021. It resides beyond the outer extent of the Kuiper belt on a distant and highly eccentric orbit detached from Neptune's gravitational influence, with a large perihelion distance of 55.5 astronomical units (AU).[5] Its large orbital semi-major axis (~1,000 AU) suggests it is potentially from the inner Oort cloud.[7][3] Like 2013 SY99, 2021 RR205 lies in the 50–75 AU perihelion gap that separates the detached objects from the more distant sednoids; dynamical studies indicate that such objects in the inner edge this gap weakly experience "diffusion", or inward orbital migration due to minuscule perturbations by Neptune.[7]

2021 RR205
Discovery[1]
Discovered byS. S. Sheppard
D. J. Tholen
C. Trujillo
Discovery siteMauna Kea Obs.
Discovery date5 September 2021
Designations
2021 RR205
TNO[2] · sednoid[3] · detached · distant[4]
Orbital characteristics (barycentric)[5]
Epoch 25 February 2023 (JD 2460000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 3[2]
Observation arc5.11 yr (1,867 days)
Earliest precovery date24 July 2017
Aphelion1926 AU
Perihelion55.541 AU
990.9 AU
Eccentricity0.94395
31173 yr
0.363°
0° 0m 0.114s / day
Inclination7.644°
108.345°
208.574°
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter
100–300 km (est. 0.04–0.2)[6]
24.6[1]
6.77±0.11[2] · 6.74[4]

    2021 RR205's heliocentric distance was 60 AU when it was discovered.[2] It has been detected in precovery observations by the Dark Energy Survey at Cerro Tololo Observatory from as early as July 2017.[4] It last passed perihelion in the early 1990s and is now moving outbound from the Sun.[1]

    References
    1. "MPEC-2022-S118 : 2021 RR205". Minor Planet Electronic Circular. Minor Planet Center. 21 September 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
    2. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2021 RR205)" (2022-09-03 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
    3. Sheppard, Scott S. "Scott Sheppard Small Body Discoveries". Earth and Planets Laboratory. Carnegie Institution for Science. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
    4. "2021 RR205". Minor Planet Center. International Astronomical Union. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
    5. "JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris for 2021 RR205 at epoch JD 2460000.5". JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 21 September 2022. Solution using the Solar System Barycenter. Ephemeris Type: Elements and Center: @0)
    6. "Asteroid Size Estimator". Center for Near Earth Object Studies. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
    7. Bannister, Michele; Shankman, Cory; Volk, Katherine (2017). "OSSOS: V. Diffusion in the orbit of a high-perihelion distant Solar System object". The Astronomical Journal. 153 (6): 262. arXiv:1704.01952. Bibcode:2017AJ....153..262B. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aa6db5. S2CID 3502267.
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