(15874) 1996 TL66
(15874) 1996 TL66 (provisional designation 1996 TL66) is a trans-Neptunian object of the scattered disc orbiting in the outermost region of the Solar System.
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | D. C. Jewitt J. X. Luu J. Chen C. A. Trujillo |
| Discovery site | Mauna Kea Obs. |
| Discovery date | 9 October 1996 |
| Designations | |
MPC designation | (15874) 1996 TL66 |
Alternative designations | 1996 TL66 |
Minor planet category | TNO · SDO distant |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 2 | |
| Observation arc | 5883 days (16.11 yr) |
| Aphelion | 131.75 AU (19.710 Tm) |
| Perihelion | 35.057 AU (5.2445 Tm) |
Semi-major axis | 83.403 AU (12.4769 Tm) |
| Eccentricity | 0.57967 |
Orbital period (sidereal) | 761.70 yr (278211 d) |
Mean anomaly | 6.8505° |
Mean motion | 0° 0m 4.658s / day |
| Inclination | 24.006° |
Longitude of ascending node | 217.82° |
| 184.79° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean diameter | 339±20 km 575±115 km |
Synodic rotation period | 12 h (0.50 d) |
| 0.110+0.021 −0.015 0.035+0.02 −0.01 | |
| B–V = 0.687±0.072 V–R = 0.369±0.052 | |
| 21 | |
| 5.4 | |
The Spitzer Space Telescope has estimated this object to be about 575 kilometres (357 mi) in diameter, but 2012 estimates from the Herschel Space Observatory estimate the diameter as closer to 339 kilometres (211 mi). It is not a detached object, since its perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) is under the influence of Neptune. Light-curve-amplitude analysis suggests that it is a spheroid. Tancredi presents "in the form of a decision tree, the set of questions to be considered in order to classify an object as an icy 'dwarf planet'." They find that (15874) 1996 TL66 is very probably a dwarf planet. Mike Brown's website, using a radiometrically determined diameter of 344 kilometres (214 mi), lists it as a possible dwarf planet.