(60621) 2000 FE8

(60621) 2000 FE₈

Orbit of (60621) 2000 FE8
Discovery [1]
Discovered by	J. Kavelaars B. Gladman J.-M. Petit M. Holman
Discovery site	Mauna Kea Observatory
Discovery date	27 March 2000
Designations
MPC designation	(60621) 2000 FE8
Alternative names	2000 FE8
Minor planet category	SDO · TNO
Orbital characteristics [2][3][4]
Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5)
Uncertainty parameter 3
Observation arc	2485 days (6.80 yr)
Aphelion	78.605 AU (11.7591 Tm)
Perihelion	33.111 AU (4.9533 Tm)
Semi-major axis	55.858 AU (8.3562 Tm)
Eccentricity	0.40724
Orbital period	417.48 yr (152485 d)
Mean anomaly	28.893°
Mean motion	0° 0^m 8.499^s / day
Inclination	5.8567°
Longitude of ascending node	3.8559°
Argument of perihelion	143.86°
Known satellites	1
Earth MOID	32.1244 AU (4.80574 Tm)
Jupiter MOID	27.7404 AU (4.14990 Tm)
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	152 km[3]
Mean density	1 g/cm^3[3]
Geometric albedo	0.09[3]
Temperature	37 K (-236°C)
Spectral type	(yellow-orange) B−V=0.75; V−R=0.48[5]
Absolute magnitude (H)	6.9[2]

(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. This object is locked in a 2:5 orbital resonance with Neptune. It is known to have a single moon, S/2007 (60621) 1.^[6]

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.^[2]

Resonance with Neptune

2000 FE₈ is part of a group of trans-Neptunian objects that orbit in a 2:5 resonance with Neptune.^[7] That means that for every five orbits that Neptune completes, 2000 FE₈ makes only two.^[6] 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.^[8] The moon orbits at 1180 kilometres away from 2000 FE₈, completing one orbit every week.^[3] It is thought to be 115 km^[3] 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°,^{[lower-alpha 1]} twelve times larger than the Sun appears from Earth.

Gallery

• 

  Telescopes in the Mauna Kea Observatory, where 2000 FE₈ was discovered.

• 

  The Hubble space telescope, which discovered S/2007 (60621) 1.

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. "60621 (2000 FE8)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
2. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 60621 (2000 FE8)" (2007-01-15 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
3. Johnston, W. R. (26 November 2008). "(60621) 200 FE8". Johnston's Archive. Retrieved 2013-10-01.
4. "List Of Centaurs and Scattered-Disk Objects (by semimajor axis)". Minor Planet Center. 4 October 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-04.
5. 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.
6. Johnston, W. R. (5 July 2013). "List of Known Trans-Neptunian Objects". Johnston's Archive. Retrieved 2013-10-05.
7. Orbit and Astrometry for 60621
8. Green, Daniel (3 March 2007). "Circular No. 8816" (PDF). Harvard. Retrieved 2013-10-05.

External links

• Canada-France Ecliptic Plane Survey (CFEPS)
• "(60621) 2000 FE 8 orbit diagram". JPL Small-Body Database. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. SPK-ID: 2060621.
• (60621) 2000 FE8 at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Discovery · Orbit diagram · Orbital elements · Physical parameters