2013 BL76
 The orbits of some of the most distant asteroids, 2013 BL76 at top left | |
| Discovery[1][2] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Mt. Lemmon Survey |
| Discovery date | January 20, 2013 |
| Designations | |
| Trans-Neptunian object Centaur[3] Damocloid | |
| Orbital characteristics[4] | |
| Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 1 | |
| Observation arc | 687 days (1.88 yr) |
| Aphelion | 2499 ±9.421 AU ~ 1920 AU[a] |
| Perihelion | 8.37058 AU (1.252221 Tm) (q) |
| 1254 ±4.726 AU (a) ~ 964 AU[a] | |
| Eccentricity | 0.99312 (e) |
| 44,382 ±251 yr ~ 29900 yr[a] last perihelion: 2012-10-27 | |
| 0.0272433° (M) | |
| Inclination | 98.61911° (i) |
| 180.20631° (Ω) | |
| 166.0668° (ω) | |
| Known satellites | none |
| Earth MOID | 7.39224 AU (1.105863 Tm) |
| Jupiter MOID | 3.51631 AU (526.032 Gm) |
| Proper orbital elements | |
Proper mean motion | 0.00848206 (n) deg / yr |
Proper orbital period | Expression error: Unexpected ( operator yr (Expression error: Unexpected ( operator d) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | ~ 15–40 km[5] 30–40 km (assumed albedo 0.05-0.1) |
| 21.6[6] | |
| 10.8[7][4] | |
2013 BL76 is a minor planet (centaur)[3] from the scattered disk/Inner Oort cloud. Using an epoch of December 2014, it is the minor planet with the third-largest heliocentric semi-major axis in the Solar system (after 2005 VX3 and 2012 DR30).[8] 2013 BL76 has a barycentric semi-major axis of ~964 AU,[9][a] which is also the third largest barycentric semi-major axis of any minor planet.
With an absolute magnitude (H) of 10.8[7] and an unknown albedo, the object has an estimated diameter of 15–40 km.[5] Since it has not been seen out-gassing, it is not known if it is a comet or not. It might also be a damocloid, a type of minor planet that was originally a comet but lost most of its near-surface volatile materials after numerous orbits around the Sun. It also might be a dormant comet that simply has not been seen outgassing.
2013 BL76 came to perihelion 8.3AU from the Sun on October 27, 2012, when it reached an apparent magnitude of about 20.[1] In 1927, when it was 100AU from the Sun, it had an apparent magnitude of about 30.8.[11] For comparison dwarf planet 90377 Sedna had an apparent magnitude of 21.7 when it was 100AU from the Sun.[12]
It will not be 50 AU from the Sun until 2045. After leaving the planetary region of the Solar System, 2013 BL76 will have a barycentric aphelion of 1920 AU with an orbital period of 29900 years.[a]
In a 10 million year integration of the orbit, the nominal (best-fit) orbit remains 6.7AU (qmin) from the Sun, but one of the 3-sigma clones acquires a perihelion point of 0.5AU (inside the orbit of Venus).[3]
2013 BL76 travels in a technically retrograde orbit around the Sun. It is actually orbiting in a plane nearly perpendicular to that of the ecliptic. It has the 55th highest inclination of any known asteroid, after 2010 GW147 and before 2014 HS150.
| Orbital evolution | |||||||
| Epoch | Barycentric Aphelion (Q) (AU) |
Orbital period yr | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 1849 | 28300 | |||||
| 2050 | 1920 | 29900 | |||||
Largest semimajor axes of minor planets
| Provisional designation/Name | Number | Semi-major axis | Semi-major axis (barycntr.) |
Perihelion | Aphelion | Aphelion (barycntr.) |
(H) | Diameter (km) | Orbital certainty (0–9)[b] | # obs. (arc in days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 GB32 | 213 | 206.7 | 35.3420 | 390 | 378 | 7.8 (7.7) |
120 | 3 | 26(4733) | |
| 2015 WZ | 220 | 195 | 1.377 | 440 | 410 | 17.6 (17.562 ±0.27891) |
1.4 | 5 | 31(25) | |
| 2001 FP185 | 82158 | 220 | 216 | 34.2340 | 406 | 398 | 6.0 | 265 | 3 | 50(2461) |
| 2012 KA51 | 224 | 190 | 4.9 | 444 | 380 | 11.1 | 15 | 9 | 12(6) | |
| 2000 CR105 | 148209 | 229.8 | 222.2 | 44.2000 | 415.5 | 400.4 | 6.3 | 320 | 3 | 54(3242) |
| 2013 LU28 (2014 LJ9) |
230 | 230 | 8.698 | 460 | 451.5 | 7.9 | 115 | 5 | 56(385) | |
| 2006 UL321 | 261 | 257 | 23.5 | 498 | 490.5 | 7.6 | 125 | 9 | 3(1) | |
| 2012 VP113 | 265 | 263.158 | 80.4500 | 448 | 445.88 | 4.0 | 460 | 5 | 26(739) | |
| 1996 PW | 267 | 240 | 2.5557 | 532 | 480 | 14.0 | 7 | 2 | 250(506) | |
| 2011 OR17 (2010 KZ127) |
272 | 270 | 3.0987 | 550 | 540 | 13.1 | 10 | 1 | 101(748) | |
| 2013 RF98 | 320 | 316.7 | 36.288 | 603 | 597 | 8.6 (8.64 ±0.34175) |
90 | 5 | 38(56) | |
| 2010 NV1 | 336756 | 322.7 | 286 | 9.41587 | 635.9 | 562 | 10.6 | 34 | 1 | 147(1815) |
| 2004 VN112 | 328.8 | 327.3 | 47.3324 | 610.3 | 607.3 | 6.4 | 314 | 2 | 28(3611) | |
| 2009 MS9 | 418993 | 349.55 | 352.5 | 11.00317 | 688.1 | 694 | 10.0 (9.9) |
42 | 1 | 134(1995) |
| 2010 GB174 | 367 | 351.1 | 48.5600 | 686 | 653.7 | 6.5 | 223 | 3 | 18(965) | |
| 2007 DA61 | 475 | 500 | 2.6550 | 950 | 900 | 15.1 (14.913 ±0.470) |
4.5 | 4 | 78(29) | |
| 2010 BK118 | 490 | 385 | 6.1050 | 980 | 770 | 10.2 | 38 | 1 | 292(1319) | |
| 2003 VB12/Sedna | 90377 | 524.2 | 505.88 | 76.094 | 972.4 | 935.6 | 1.5 | 1000 | 2 | 90(8819) |
| 2007 TG422 | 530 | 501.8 | 35.5830 | 1030 | 968 | 6.2 | 343 | 2 | 34(1956) | |
| 2000 OO67 | 87269 | 570 | 555 | 20.7900 | 1100 | 1110 | 9.2 | 60 | 2 | 34(2187) |
| 2002 RN109 | 720 | 850 | 2.7040 | 1440 | 1201 | 15.3 | 4 | 3 | 38(80) | |
| 2006 SQ372 | 308933 | 765 | 792 | 24.172 | 1500 | 1585 | 8.1 | 110 | 2 | 65(1830) |
| 2013 AZ60 | 880 | 593 | 7.908 | 1700 | 1176 | 10.2 | 38 | 1 | 189(8067) | |
| 2015 ER61 | 1100 | 550 | 1.060 | 2200 | 1100 | 12.3 | 22 | 3 | 47(92) | |
| 2013 BL76 | 1251 | 940 | 8.37358 | 2494 | 1825 | 10.8 | 35 | 1 | 68(687) | |
| 2012 DR30 (2009 FW54) |
1300 | 1036 | 14.546 | 2600 | 2030 | 7.1 | 171 | 0 | 206(5375) | |
| 2005 VX3 | 1300 | 1200 | 4.133 | 2700 | 2038 | 14.1 | 6 | 4 | 50(81) |
Comparison
Notes
- ^ a b c d e Given the orbital eccentricity of this object, different epochs can generate quite different heliocentric unperturbed two-body best-fit solutions to the semi-major axis and orbital period. For objects at such high eccentricity, the Sun's barycentric coordinates are more stable than heliocentric coordinates.[10] Using JPL Horizons, the barycentric semi-major axis is approximately 964 AU.[9]
- ^ 0–3 is high-certainty and well constrained, 9 is low-certainty and probably lost.
References
- ^ a b "2013 BL76". Seicchi Yoshida's Home Page. Retrieved 2013-07-12.
- ^ "MPEC 2013-C12 : 2013 BL76". IAU Minor Planet Center. 2013-02-03. Retrieved 2013-10-14. (K13B76L)
- ^ a b c Marc W. Buie. "Orbit Fit and Astrometric record for 13BL76". SwRI (Space Science Department). Retrieved 2016-02-03. (WayBackMachine 2016-02-06)
- ^ a b "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2013 BL76)" (last observation: 2014-08-25; arc: 1.88 years). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
- ^ a b "Absolute Magnitude (H)". NASA/JPL. Retrieved 2013-10-13.
- ^ "AstDyS 2013BL76 Ephemerides". Department of Mathematics, University of Pisa, Italy. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
- ^ a b "2013 BL76". IAU minor planet center. Retrieved 2013-07-12.
- ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Search Engine: Asteroids and a > 100 (AU)". JPL Solar System Dynamics. Retrieved 2013-10-13. (Epoch defined at will change every 6 months or so)
- ^ a b Horizons output. "Barycentric Osculating Orbital Elements for 2013 BL76". Retrieved 2014-03-06. (Solution using the Solar System Barycenter and barycentric coordinates. Select Ephemeris Type:Elements and Center:@0)
- ^ Kaib, Nathan A.; Becker, Andrew C.; Jones, R. Lynne; Puckett, Andrew W.; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Dilday, Benjamin; Frieman, Joshua A.; Oravetz, Daniel J.; Pan, Kaike; Quinn, Thomas; Schneider, Donald P.; Watters, Shannon (2009). "2006 SQ372: A Likely Long-Period Comet from the Inner Oort Cloud". The Astrophysical Journal. 695 (1): 268–275. arXiv:0901.1690. Bibcode:2009ApJ...695..268K. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/695/1/268.
- ^ "AstDys 2013BL76 Ephemerides for 1927 (when 100AU from Sun)". Department of Mathematics, University of Pisa, Italy. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
- ^ "AstDys (90377) Sedna Ephemerides for 1975 (when 100AU from Sun)". Department of Mathematics, University of Pisa, Italy. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
