[meteorite-list] Re: Three new Kuiper Belt Objects

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat Jul 30 02:18:06 2005
Message-ID: <200507300617.j6U6HCk26678_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

I've filled in the blanks in your table:

1. 2003 UB313 _at_ 97 AU
     Twice as big as Pluto (diameter)
     Orbit inclined at 44 degrees
     Period 557 years
     Very bright object, Magnitude 18.9
     Discoverer: Brown

2. 2005 EL61 _at_ 51 AU
     0.70 as big as Pluto (diameter) but ELONGATED
     0.32 the mass of Pluto
     Orbit inclined at 28 degrees
     Period 285 years
     Also bright object, Mag 17.5
          "seen" in 12" scope by amateurs
          within hours of announcement
     Has a moon 1% of primary mass in 49-day orbit
     Discoverer: Ortiz; Moon discovered by Brown
     who had also discovered the primary
     but did not announce first

3. 2005 FY9 _at_ 52 AU
     "less than" the diameter of Pluto but not by too much
     Orbit inclined at 29 degrees
     Period 308 years
     Also pretty bright for a KBO
     Discoverer: Brown



Sterling K. Webb
--------------------------------------------------------------
Darren Garrison wrote:

> Were there two KBOs announced today, or just one under two numbers? There seems to be confusion on
> the point

> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ron Baalke wrote
___________
Some new info direct from Mike Brown:

o 2003 UB313 is larger then Pluto in diameter, but no larger than twice
Pluto's diameter
o Based on Spitzer measurements 2005 FY9 is confirmed to be smaller than
Pluto
o Attempts to measure 2003 UB313 with Spitzer did not yield any useful
data
o The satellite around 2003 EL61 has a 49-day orbital period
o The surface of 2003 UB313 is similar to Pluto, and it has methane
o They had intended to announce their discoveries in a couple of months,
but their
  website was hacked into, which prompted them to announce them today.

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Received on Sat 30 Jul 2005 02:17:12 AM PDT