2003 UB313 - Classification

2003 UB313 (center) and moon (right of center). Keck Observatory. 2003 UB313 is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) which California astronomers at Mount Palomar observatory describe as "definitely bigger" than the planet Pluto. The object has already been dubbed the tenth planet by the discoverers, NASA, and some media outlets, but it is not yet clear whether it will be widely accepted as a new planet or not. It has at least one moon. No official name for ...

Including:

• 2003 UB313 - Discovery
• 2003 UB313 - Classification
• 2003 UB313 - Name
• 2003 UB313 - Orbit
• 2003 UB313 - Size
• 2003 UB313 - Surface
• 2003 UB313 - Moon

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2003 UB313 is classified as a scattered disk object (SDO), a category of TNO which are believed to have been "scattered" from the Kuiper belt and into more distant and unusual orbits following gravitational interactions with Neptune as the solar system was forming. Although its high orbital inclination is unusual among the current known SDOs, theoretical models suggest that objects which were originally near the inner edge of the Kuiper belt are scattered into orbits with higher inclinations than objects from the outer belt. Inner ...

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2003 UB313, 2003 UB313 - Discovery, 2003 UB313 - Classification, 2003 UB313 - Name, 2003 UB313 - Orbit, 2003 UB313 - Size, 2003 UB313 - Surface, 2003 UB313 - Moon

Read more here: » 2003 UB313: Encyclopedia II - 2003 UB313 - Classification

2003 UB313 was discovered by the team of Michael Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David Rabinowitz on January 5, 2005 from images taken on October 21, 2003, and the discovery was announced on July 29, 2005, the same day as two other large TNOs, 2003 EL61 and 2005 FY9. The search team has been systematically scanning for large outer solar system bodies for several years, and had previously been involved in the discovery of several other very large trans-Neptunian objects, including 500 ...

See also:

2003 UB313, 2003 UB313 - Discovery, 2003 UB313 - Classification, 2003 UB313 - Name, 2003 UB313 - Orbit, 2003 UB313 - Size, 2003 UB313 - Surface, 2003 UB313 - Moon

Read more here: » 2003 UB313: Encyclopedia II - 2003 UB313 - Discovery

The discovery team followed up their initial identification of 2003 UB313 with spectroscopic observations made at the 8 m Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii on January 25, 2005. Infrared light from the object revealed the presence of methane ice, indicating that the surface of 2003 UB313 is rather similar to Pluto, which was the only TNO already known to show the presence of methane. Neptune's moon Triton is probably related to Kuiper Belt objects ...

See also:

2003 UB313, 2003 UB313 - Discovery, 2003 UB313 - Classification, 2003 UB313 - Name, 2003 UB313 - Orbit, 2003 UB313 - Size, 2003 UB313 - Surface, 2003 UB313 - Moon

Read more here: » 2003 UB313: Encyclopedia II - 2003 UB313 - Surface

The brightness of a solar system object depends both on its size and the amount of light it reflects (its albedo). If the distance to an object and its albedo are both known, its radius can easily be determined from its apparent magnitude, with a higher albedo implying a smaller radius. Currently, the albedo of 2003 UB313 is unknown, and so its true size cannot yet be determined. However, astronomers have calculated that even if it reflected all the light it receives (corresponding to the maximum albedo of 1.0 or 100%), it would s ...

See also:

2003 UB313, 2003 UB313 - Discovery, 2003 UB313 - Classification, 2003 UB313 - Name, 2003 UB313 - Orbit, 2003 UB313 - Size, 2003 UB313 - Surface, 2003 UB313 - Moon

Read more here: » 2003 UB313: Encyclopedia II - 2003 UB313 - Size

The object currently has the provisional designation 2003 UB313, granted automatically according to the IAU's naming protocols for minor planets. The next step in the object's identification will be the external verification of its orbit and assignment of a permanent designation number. Should 2003 UB313 be treated as any other minor planet, its discoverers will then have the exclusive right to propose a name during a ten year window that begins with its permanent numbering, subject to the approval of the Committee on S ...

See also:

2003 UB313, 2003 UB313 - Discovery, 2003 UB313 - Classification, 2003 UB313 - Name, 2003 UB313 - Orbit, 2003 UB313 - Size, 2003 UB313 - Surface, 2003 UB313 - Moon

Read more here: » 2003 UB313: Encyclopedia II - 2003 UB313 - Name

2003 UB313 has an orbital period of 557 years, and currently lies at almost its maximum possible distance from the Sun (aphelion). It is currently the most distant known solar system object from the Sun at a distance of 97 astronomical units, although about forty known TNOs (most notably 2000 OO67 and Sedna), while currently closer to the Sun than 2003 UB313, have greater See also:

2003 UB313, 2003 UB313 - Discovery, 2003 UB313 - Classification, 2003 UB313 - Name, 2003 UB313 - Orbit, 2003 UB313 - Size, 2003 UB313 - Surface, 2003 UB313 - Moon

Read more here: » 2003 UB313: Encyclopedia II - 2003 UB313 - Orbit