2010 EU65
Centaur
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2010 EU65 is a centaur, approximately 64 kilometers (40 miles) in diameter, orbiting the Sun in the outer Solar System. The object is also a promising Uranus horseshoe librator candidate.[8] It was first observed on 13 March 2010, by American astronomers David Rabinowitz and Suzanne Tourtellotte, observing from Cerro Tololo and La Silla Observatory in Chile.[1][2][3] As of 2026[update], it has neither been numbered nor named.[1]
(First observed only)
| Discovery[1][2][3] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | D. Rabinowitz S. Tourtellotte |
| Discovery site | La Silla Obs. |
| Discovery date | 13 March 2010 (First observed only) |
| Designations | |
| 2010 EU65 | |
| centaur[4][5][6] | |
| Orbital characteristics[4] | |
| Epoch 21 November 2025 (JD 2461000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 3[4] · 2[1] | |
| Observation arc | 10.12 yr (3,698 d) |
| Aphelion | 22.691 AU |
| Perihelion | 16.997 AU |
| 19.844 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1434 |
| 88.40 yr (32,288 d) | |
| 18.861° | |
| 0° 0m 40.14s / day | |
| Inclination | 14.568° |
| 4.5781° | |
| 21 June 2021[a] | |
| 239.08° | |
| TJupiter | 4.003 |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 64 km (est. at 0.09)[5] | |
| 21.74[7] | |
| 9.1[1][4] | |
Orbit and classification
2010 EU65 is classified as a centaur, a group of non-resonant small Solar System bodies whose orbit around the Sun lie typically between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune (5 to 30 AU). Centaurs are minor planets with characteristics of comets, and often classified as such. The dynamical group is formed due to Neptune's eroding effect on the Kuiper belt by means of gravitational scattering, sending objects inward to become centaurs, or outward to become scattered-disc objects, or removing them from the Solar System entirely. Centaurs themselves have unstable orbits with short lifetimes, transitioning from the inactive population of Kuiper belt objects to the active group of Jupiter-family comets within approximately one million years.
It orbits the Sun at a distance of 17.0–22.7 AU once every 88 years and 5 months (32,288 days; semi-major axis of 19.84 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.14 and an inclination of 15° with respect to the ecliptic. It has a Tisserand's parameter with respect to Jupiter (TJ) of 4.003, above the threshold of 3, typically used to distinguish asteroids from Jupiter-family comets.[4] On 21 June 2021, the object came to perihelion at 17.0 AU and has since been moving away from the Sun.[a] As of 2026[update] the object is at 17.215 AU, with an apparent magnitude of 21.74.[7] The body's observation arc begins with a precovery observation taken by the Mount Lemmon Survey in April 2009.[1]
Uranus horseshoe candidate
Based on its current heliocentric orbit, 2010 EU65 follows a horseshoe orbit around Uranus' L3 point. Giving the fact that its orbit is, at present, poorly determined, the object is a promising Uranus horseshoe orbiter candidate.[8]
Physical properties
2010 EU65 has an absolute magnitude of 9.1. Based on a generic magnitude-to-diameter conversion, it measures approximately 64 kilometers (40 miles) in diameter assuming an albedo of 0.09.[5]
See also
Notes
- JPL Horizons Observer Location: @sun (Perihelion occurs when deldot changes from negative to positive.)