Discovery date 21 October 2003 Minor planet category Plutino | MPC designation 2003 UZ413 Observation arc 22417 days (61.37 yr) | |
Discovered by M. E. Brown
D. L. Rabinowitz
C. A. Trujillo Aphelion 47.858 AU (7.1595 Tm) (Q) | ||
(455502) 2003 UZ413, also written as 2003 UZ413, is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) with an absolute magnitude of 4.4. It has a 2:3 orbital resonance with Neptune, which makes it a plutino. It is likely large enough to be a dwarf planet.
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It has been observed 79 times over 15 oppositions, with precovery images back to 1954.
Orbit and rotation
(455502) 2003 UZ413 is locked in 2:3 resonance with Neptune, which means that when it makes two revolutions around the Sun, Neptune makes exactly three.
The object rotates very fast. In fact, with a period of about 4.1 hours, it is the fastest rotator in the Kuiper belt after Haumea.
Physical characteristics
The size of (455502) 2003 UZ413 is not known, but a reasonable estimate is around 600 kilometres (370 mi). Given its rapid rotation, it must have a density higher than 0.72 g/cm3. Stable Jacobi ellipsoids with an axis ratio of a/b ≥ 1.13 ± 0.03, as implied by its light-curve amplitude of Δm = 0.13 ± 0.03, exist for densities in the range of 2.29−3.00 g/cm3.
In visible light, this object is neutral or slightly red in color and has a flat, featureless reflectance spectrum.