| Discovery date August 19, 2001 Alternative names none Observation arc 4526 days (12.39 yr) | MPC designation 2001 QF298 Minor planet category TNO Plutino | |
| Discovered by Marc W. Buie Cerro Tololo (807) | ||
(469372) 2001 QF298, also written as 2001 QF298, is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) that resides in the Kuiper belt. It was discovered on August 19, 2001 by Marc W. Buie. 2001 QF298 is a plutino, meaning that it is locked in a 3:2 orbital resonance with Neptune, much like Pluto.
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Physical characteristics
In 2012, the size of 2001 QF298 was estimated based on thermal radiation data obtained with the Herschel Space Telescope. The result was 408.2+40.2
−44.9 km.
In the visible light, the object appears to have a neutral or slightly red color.
Dwarf planet candidate
When first discovered, 2001 QF298 was calculated to have an absolute magnitude (H) of 4.7. Light-curve-amplitude analysis from 2008 showed only small deviations, which suggested that 2001 QF298 could be a spheroid about 480 kilometres (300 mi) in diameter with small albedo spots and hence a dwarf planet. It is not included in the same authors' list of dwarf-planet candidates from 2010 because, having an absolute magnitude of 5.4 and assumed albedo of 0.1, it would be less than the cut-off size of 450 kilometres (280 mi) (the same criteria as in the first paper).