Discovery of a Satellite of the Large Trans-Neptunian Object (225088) 2007 OR{sub 10}

Journal Article · Mon Mar 20 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/AA6484· OSTI ID:22654511

Kiss, Csaba; Marton, Gábor; Farkas-Takács, Anikó; Vinkó, József; Pál, András ^[1]; Stansberry, John ^[2]; Müller, Thomas ^[3]; Balog, Zoltán ^[4]; Ortiz, Jose-Luis ^[5]

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1. Konkoly Observatory, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Konkoly Thege 15-17, H-1121 Budapest (Hungary)
2. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
3. Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, Postfach 1312, Giessenbachstr., D-85741 Garching (Germany)
4. Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany)
5. Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía—CSIC, Apt 3004, E-18080 Granada (Spain)

2007 OR{sub 10} is currently the third largest known dwarf planet in the trans-Neptunian region, with an effective radiometric diameter of ∼1535 km. It has a slow rotation period of ∼45 hr that was suspected to be caused by tidal interactions with a satellite undetected at that time. Here, we report on the discovery of a likely moon of 2007 OR{sub 10}, identified on archival Hubble Space Telescope WFC3/UVIS system images. Although the satellite is detected at two epochs, this does not allow an unambiguous determination of the orbit and the orbital period. A feasible 1.5–5.8 · 10{sup 21} kg estimate for the system mass leads to a likely 35–100 day orbital period. The moon is about 4.ͫ2 fainter than 2007 OR{sub 10} in HST images that corresponds to a diameter of 237 km assuming equal albedos with the primary. Due to the relatively small size of the moon, the previous size and albedo estimates for the primary remains unchanged. With this discovery all trans-Neptunian objects larger than 1000 km are now known to harbor satellites, an important constraint for moon formation theories in the young solar system.

• OSTI ID: 22654511
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 838, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ALBEDO
ASTEROIDS
HARBORS
IMAGES
INTERACTIONS
LIMITING VALUES
MASS
MOON
NEPTUNE PLANET
ORBITS
PLANETS
ROTATION
SOLAR SYSTEM
SPACE
TELESCOPES