Classical Kuiper belt object

Types of distant minor planets

A classical Kuiper belt object, also called a cubewano (/ˌkjuːbiːˈwʌnoʊ/ "QB1-o"),[a] is a low-eccentricity Kuiper belt object (KBO) that orbits beyond Neptune and is not controlled by an orbital resonance with Neptune. Cubewanos have orbits with semi-major axes in the 40–50 AU range and, unlike Pluto, do not cross Neptune's orbit. That is, they have low-eccentricity and sometimes low-inclination orbits like the classical planets.

The name "cubewano" derives from the first trans-Neptunian object (TNO) found after Pluto and Charon: 15760 Albion, which until January 2018 had only the provisional designation (15760) 1992 QB1.[2] Similar objects found later were often called "QB1-os", or "cubewanos", after this object, though the term "classical" is much more frequently used in the scientific literature.

Objects identified as cubewanos include:

  • 15760 Albion[3] (aka 1992 QB1 and gave rise to the term "Cubewano")
  • 136472 Makemake, a dwarf planet[3]
  • 50000 Quaoar and 20000 Varuna, each considered the largest TNO at the time of discovery[3]
  • 19521 Chaos, 58534 Logos, 53311 Deucalion, 66652 Borasisi, 88611 Teharonhiawako
  • (33001) 1997 CU29, (55636) 2002 TX300, 55565 Aya, 55637 Uni
  • 486958 Arrokoth

136108 Haumea was provisionally listed as a cubewano by the Minor Planet Center in 2006,[4] but was later found to be in a resonant orbit.[3]

  1. ^ "Distant Minor Planets".
  2. ^ Jewitt, David. "Classical Kuiper Belt Objects". UCLA. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d Brian G. Marsden (30 January 2010). "MPEC 2010-B62: Distant Minor Planets (2010 FEB. 13.0 TT)". IAU Minor Planet Center. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  4. ^ "MPEC 2006-X45: Distant Minor Planets". IAU Minor Planet Center & Tamkin Foundation Computer Network. 12 December 2006. Retrieved 3 October 2008.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.