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TOPIC: TNO 2009 YE7

Blobrana

L

Posts: 131433

Date: Feb 16 13:02 2010

Asteroid 2009 YE7, 2009 YF7, 2009 YG19

Orbital elements:
Object    H    G   Epoch    M     Peri.   Node    Incl.     e         a    Arc C
K09Y07E  4.3  0.15 K1014 303.261  21.715 141.290  29.101 0.43040  54.28188  57 X
K09Y07F 10.8  0.15 K1014 285.429  89.367  97.500  30.989 0.45885  12.03739  53 X
K09Y19G  5.9  0.15 K1014  12.896 278.092  98.732   5.206 0.51450  62.61881  47EX

MPEC 2010 - C52

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Blobrana

L

Posts: 131433

Date: Dec 30 03:47 2009

RE: TNO 2009 YE7	Permalink

First, 2009 is YE7 bright. In absolute terms, it is the 9th brightest object, which is what led to the reasonable assumption that it is likely the 9th largest object (by absolute brightness here, I mean the brightness things would have if they were all the same distance away; some objects are bright just by virtue of being close). Second, the orbit of 2009 YE7 is tilted relative to the planets by 29 degrees. Following the position of an object for only 2 weeks doesn't give you a precise measurement of much about its orbit, but that tilt is one thing that is solidly known even with this limited data. An angle of 29 degrees is an unusually high angle. Not too many objects are tilted by that much. But one that is is Haumea. Haumea with its family of shards all going around the sun on orbits just like it. Tilted by 29 degrees. 2009 YE7, the brightest object discovered in the Kuiper belt in almost 5 years, is almost certainly one of the large shards (perhaps even the largest) blasted off of the surface of Haumea 4 billion years ago. 2009 YE7 and the other shards have been circling the sun on their own ever since. It is bright not because it is particularly large, but because all of the fragments of Haumea have extremely bright, reflective, icy surfaces which make them stand out against the more common darker Kuiper belt objects. 2009 YE7 is not the 9th largest Kuiper belt object; it is probably about 440 km in diameter and so in the top 50. Read more __________________

Blobrana

L

Posts: 131433

Date: Dec 29 01:22 2009

	Permalink
2009 YE7 is a trans-Neptunian object with an absolute magnitude of 2.8. This qualifies it as a dwarf planet candidate. It was discovered by David Rabinowitz on December 17, 2009 at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. 2009 YE7 is the first large KBO found from the southern hemisphere. Read more __________________

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