2011_MM4
2011 MM4, provisional designation: 2011 MM4, is a sizable centaur and retrograde damocloid from the outer Solar System, approximately 64 kilometers (40 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 24 June 2011, by astronomers with the Pan-STARRS 1 at the Haleakala Obs. in Hawaii.[1][3]
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Pan-STARRS 1 |
| Discovery site | Haleakala Obs. |
| Discovery date | 24 June 2011 |
| Designations | |
| 2011 MM4 | |
| 2011 MM4 | |
| centaur[2][3][4] · damocloid distant[1] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 6.99 yr (2,552 d) |
| Aphelion | 31.121 AU |
| Perihelion | 11.138 AU |
| 21.129 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.4729 |
| 97.12 yr (35,473 d) | |
| 49.176° | |
| 0° 0m 36.36s / day | |
| Inclination | 100.48° |
| 282.45° | |
| 6.86° | |
| TJupiter | −0.4 |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean diameter | 64 km[3][5] |
| 0.083[3][5] | |
| 9.5[1][2] | |
2011 MM4 orbits the Sun at a distance of 11.1–31.2 AU once every 97 years and 2 months (35,473 days; semi-major axis of 21.13 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.47 and an inclination of 100° with respect to the ecliptic.[2] The body's observation arc begins at Pan-STARRS in June 2010.[1]
Retrograde centaur and damocloid
2011 MM4 is a member of the centaurs, a population of inward-moving bodies transiting from the Kuiper belt to the group of Jupiter-family comets. Orbiting mainly between Jupiter and Neptune, they typically have a semi-major axis of 5.5 to 30.1 AU. Centaurs are cometary-like bodies with an eccentric orbit. Their short dynamical lifetime is due to the perturbing forces exerted on them by the outer planets of the Solar System.[6]
The object is on a retrograde orbit as it has an inclination of more than 90°.[2][7] There are only about a hundred known retrograde minor planets out of nearly 800,000 observed bodies, and, together with 2013 LU28 and 2008 YB3, it is among the largest such objects.[7] The object also meets the orbital definition for being a damocloid. This is a small group of cometary-like objects without a coma or tail and a Tisserand's parameter with respect to Jupiter of less than 2 besides a retrograde orbit.
This minor planet has no number yet.
Diameter and albedo
According to the survey of centaurs and scattered-disk objects carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, 2011 MM4 measures 64 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.083,[5] which makes it too small to be considered as a dwarf-planet candidate.
Rotation period
As of 2021[update], no rotational lightcurve of has been obtained from photometric observations. The body's rotation period, pole and shape remain unknown.[2][8]
- "2011 MM4". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
- "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 2011 MM4" (2017-10-29 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
- Johnston, Wm. Robert (7 October 2018). "List of Known Trans-Neptunian Objects". Johnston's Archive. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
- "List Of Centaurs and Scattered-Disk Objects". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
- Bauer, James M.; Grav, Tommy; Blauvelt, Erin; Mainzer, A. K.; Masiero, Joseph R.; Stevenson, Rachel; et al. (August 2013). "Centaurs and Scattered Disk Objects in the Thermal Infrared: Analysis of WISE/NEOWISE Observations". The Astrophysical Journal. 773 (1): 11. arXiv:1306.1862. Bibcode:2013ApJ...773...22B. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/773/1/22. S2CID 51139703.
- Peixinho, N.; Doressoundiram, A.; Delsanti, A.; Boehnhardt, H.; Barucci, M. A.; Belskaya, I. (October 2003). "Reopening the TNOs color controversy: Centaurs bimodality and TNOs unimodality". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 410 (3): L29–L32. arXiv:astro-ph/0309428. Bibcode:2003A&A...410L..29P. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20031420. S2CID 8515984.
- de la Fuente Marcos, C.; de la Fuente Marcos, R. (August 2014). "Large retrograde Centaurs: visitors from the Oort cloud?". Astrophysics and Space Science. 352 (2): 409–419(Ap&SSHomepage). arXiv:1406.1450. Bibcode:2014Ap&SS.352..409D. doi:10.1007/s10509-014-1993-9. S2CID 189843380.
- "LCDB Data for (342842)". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 18 October 2018.
- List Of Centaurs and Scattered-Disk Objects, Minor Planet Center
- 2011 MM4 at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
- 2011 MM4 at the JPL Small-Body Database