(444030) 2004 NT33 explained

Minorplanet:yes
Background:
  1. C2E0FF
Discovered:13 July 2004
Discoverer:Palomar
Earliest Precovery Date:10 August 1982
Mpc Name:(444030)
Mp Category:TNOcubewano
Extended
Epoch:4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty:3
Perihelion:36.838 AU
Semimajor:43.426 AU
Eccentricity:0.1517
Period:286.18 yr (104,527 days)
Mean Motion: / day
Inclination:31.231°
Asc Node:240.87°
Arg Peri:37.400°
Dimensions:
482.53 km
513 km
Albedo:0.08
0.10
0.125
Magnitude:20.94
Abs Magnitude:4.44.74.9

is a classical trans-Neptunian object and possible dwarf planet of the Kuiper belt in the outermost region of the Solar System, approximately 450 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 13 July 2004, by astronomers at Palomar Observatory, California, United States.

Orbit and classification

is a "cubewano", a classical, low-eccentricity object in the Kuiper belt, that orbits the Sun at a distance of 36.8–50.0 AU once every 286 years and 2 months (104,527 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.15 and an inclination of 31° with respect to the ecliptic. It is currently 39 AU from the Sun.

A first precovery was taken at the Siding Spring Observatory in 1982, extending the body's observation arc by 22 years prior to its official discovery observation at Palomar.

Physical characteristics

Rotation period

In 2009, astronomers obtained a rotational lightcurve of from photometric observations, which were taken at the Galileo National Telescope (TNG) on the island of La Palma, and at the Sierra Nevada Observatory in Granada, both located in Spain. The ambiguous lightcurve gave a rotation period of 7.87 hours with a low brightness amplitude of 0.04 magnitude .

Diameter and albedo

According to the "TNOs are Cool" survey, using observations from the space-based Herschel and Spitzer telescopes, measures 423 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a visual geometric albedo of 0.125, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.10 and calculates a diameter of 482.53 kilometers with on an absolute magnitude of 4.7.

Naming

As of 2017, this minor planet remains unnamed.

External links