(55565) 2002 AW197
Hubble Space Telescope image of 2002 AW197 taken in 2006 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Palomar Obs. (team) |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | 10 January 2002 |
| Designations | |
| 2002 AW197 | |
| TNO · cubewano p-DP · extended distant | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 31 May 2020 (JD 2459000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 3 | |
| Observation arc | 21.23 yr (7,756 d) |
| Earliest precovery date | 29 December 1997 |
| Aphelion | 53.161 AU |
| Perihelion | 40.922 AU |
| 47.042 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.13009 |
| 322.65 yr (117,848 d) | |
| 294.532° | |
| 0° 0m 10.998s / day | |
| Inclination | 24.451° |
| 297.606° | |
| ≈ 5 May 2078 ±4 days | |
| 297.494° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 768±39 km 734±116 km 700±50 km 886 km | |
| 8.87±0.01 h 8.78±0.05 h 8.86±0.01 h | |
| 0.112+0.012 −0.011 | |
| IR · (moderately red) B–V = 0.920±0.020 V–R = 0.560±0.020 V–I = 1.170±0.010 | |
| 20.0 (opposition) | |
| 3.568±0.046 (V) 3.156±0.059 (R) 3.3 (assumed) | |
(55565) 2002 AW197 (provisional designation 2002 AW197) is a classical, non-resonant trans-Neptunian object from the Kuiper belt in the outermost region of the Solar System, also known as a cubewano. It is the tenth-intrinsically-brightest known trans-Neptunian object, and with a likely diameter of at least 600 kilometers (400 miles), it is approximately tied with 2013 FY27 (to within measurement uncertainties) as the largest unnamed object in the Solar System. It was discovered at Palomar Observatory in 2002.
2002 AW197 has a rotation period of 8.8 hours and is a moderately red color. Tancredi notes that photometric observations suggest that it is a spheroid with small albedo spots. However, its low albedo suggests it does not have the planetary geology expected of a dwarf planet.