2011 MM4

2011 MM₄
Discovery
Discovered by	Pan-STARRS 1
Discovery site	Haleakala Obs.
Discovery date	24 June 2011
Designations
MPC designation	2011 MM4
Alternative designations	2011 MM4
Minor planet category	centaur · damocloid; distant
Orbital characteristics
	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
Semi-major axis	21.129 AU
Eccentricity	0.4729
Orbital period (sidereal)	97.12 yr (35,473 d)
Mean anomaly	49.176°
Mean motion	0° 0m 36.36s / day
Inclination	100.48°
Longitude of ascending node	282.45°
Argument of perihelion	6.86°
TJupiter	−0.4
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	64 km
Geometric albedo	0.083
Absolute magnitude (H)	9.5

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]

Orbit and classification

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.

Numbering and naming

This minor planet has no number yet.

Physical characteristics

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]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "2011 MM4". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 2011 MM4" (2017-10-29 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d 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.
^ ^a ^b ^c 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.
^ ^a ^b 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.

External links

List Of Centaurs and Scattered-Disk Objects, Minor Planet Center
2011 MM4 at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
- Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
2011 MM4 at the JPL Small-Body Database
- Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters

[MPC-object-1] "2011 MM4". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 18 October 2018.

[jpldata-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 2011 MM4" (2017-10-29 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 18 October 2018.

[johnstonsarchive-TNO-list-3] Johnston, Wm. Robert (7 October 2018). "List of Known Trans-Neptunian Objects". Johnston's Archive. Retrieved 17 October 2018.

[MPC-CEN-SDO-list-4] "List Of Centaurs and Scattered-Disk Objects". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 18 October 2018.

[Bauer-2013-5] 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-2003-6] 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.

[Fuente-Marcos-2014-7] 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-8] "LCDB Data for (342842)". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 18 October 2018.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]