Discovered by Pan-STARRS 1 MPC designation 2012 GX17 Observation arc 1066 days (2.92 yr) Discovered 14 April 2012 Discoverer Pan-STARRS | Discovery date April 14, 2012 Minor planet category Centaur Aphelion 58.496 AU (8.7509 Tm) Absolute magnitude 7.8 Asteroid group Centaur | |
Similar (316179) 2010 EN65, 2014 RC, (436724) 2011 UW158, 2012 TC4 | ||
2012 GX17, also written as 2012 GX17, is a minor body classified as centaur by the Minor Planet Center upon discovery. The object is also a promising Neptune L5 trojan candidate.
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Discovery
2012 GX17 was discovered on April 14, 2012 by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope, observing from Haleakala, Hawaii.
Orbit
2012 GX17 follows a rather eccentric orbit (0.41) with a semi-major axis of 30.13 AU. This object also has high orbital inclination (35.3º). Unfortunately, its orbit is not well determined as it is currently (November 2012) based on 10 observations with a data-arc span of 4 days.
Physical properties
2012 GX17 is a rather large minor body with an absolute magnitude of 7.8 which gives a characteristic diameter of 55–180 km for an assumed albedo in the range 0.5-0.05.
Neptune trojan candidate
Based on its current heliocentric orbit, 2012 GX17 follows a tadpole orbit around Neptune's L5 point. Giving the fact that its orbit is, at present, poorly determined, the object is a promising Neptune trojan candidate. Simulations suggest that it is dynamically unstable like Neptune L5 trojan 2004 KV18. If confirmed, this object could be the highest inclination Neptune trojan.