# (60621) 2000 FE8

Discovery and designation Orbit of (60621) 2000 FE8 Mauna Kea Observatory 27 March 2000 77.88399 AU (11,651.2791 Gm) 33.00807 AU (4,937.9370 Gm) 55.44063 AU (8,293.8002 Gm) 0.40468108 412.87 years 27.58809° 5.865358° 3.896393° 143.0882° 1 152 km (94 mi)[2] 0.09[2] 37 K (-236°C) (yellow-orange) B−V=0.75; V−R=0.48[4] 6.9[1]

(60621) 2000 FE8 is a Scattered-disk object that resides in a distant, eccentric orbit that brings it 1.1 to 2.6 times farther than Neptune.[1] This object is locked in a 2:5 orbital resonance with Neptune. It is known to have a single moon, S/2007 (60621) 1.[5]

## Orbit

2000 FE8 has an extremely eccentric which crosses the paths of many other trans-Neptunian objects, including almost all of the dwarf planets and dwarf planet candidates. As a result, its position alternates between the Kuiper Belt and the Scattered disk.[1]

### Resonance with Neptune

2000 FE8 is part of a group of trans-Neptunian objects that orbit in a 2:5 resonance with Neptune.[6] That means that for every five orbits that Neptune completes, 2000 FE8 makes only two.[5] Several other objects are in the same orbital resonance, the largest of which is (84522) 2002 TC302.

## Moon

Like many objects of the Kuiper Belt and Scattered Disk, 2000 FE8 has a moon. This moon, S/2007 (60621) 1, was discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope seven years after 200 FE8 itself was found.[7] The moon orbits at 1180 kilometres away from 2000 FE8, completing one orbit every week.[2] It is thought to be 115 km[2] in diameter, just 75.7% the diameter of 2000 FE8 itself. From the surface of 2000 FE8, S/2007 (60621) 1 would have an apparent diameter of roughly 6°,[a] twelve times larger than the Sun appears from Earth.

## Notes

1. ^ Calculated by solving $\scriptstyle{\mathrm{tan}\left(\frac{\theta}{2}\right) = \frac{\mathrm{radius~of~moon}}{\mathrm{distance~from~surface~of~asteroid~to~center~of~moon}}}$.

## References

1. ^ a b c d
2. Johnston, W. R. (26 November 2008). "(60621) 200 FE8". Johnston's Archive. Retrieved 2013-10-01.
3. ^ "List Of Centaurs and Scattered-Disk Objects (by semimajor axis)". Minor Planet Center. 4 October 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-04.
4. ^ Tegler, S. C. et al. (2003). "Color patterns in the Kuiper belt: a possible primordial origin". Astrophysical Journal. Bibcode:2003ApJ...599L..49T. doi:10.1086/381076.
5. ^ a b Johnston, W. R. (5 July 2013). "List of Known Trans-Neptunian Objects". Johnston's Archive. Retrieved 2013-10-05.
6. ^ Orbit and Astrometry for 60621
7. ^ Green, Daniel (3 March 2007). "Circular No. 8816" (PDF). Harvard. Retrieved 2013-10-05.