(307261) 2002 MS4
Synodic rotation period | 14.251 h[8]: 5, 54 7.33 h or 10.44 h (single-peaked)[9]: 158 [a] | |
0.100±0.025[7]: 8 or 0.098±0.004[10]: 2 (geometric) 0.039±0.005 (Bond)[10]: 23 | ||
Temperature | 65 K[11] | |
B−V=0.69±0.02[12]: 6 V−R=0.38±0.02 B−R=1.07±0.02 | ||
20.5[13] | ||
3.56±0.03[8]: 62, 74 3.63±0.05[7]: 8 3.62[2][1] | ||
(307261) 2002 MS4 (
The surface of 2002 MS4 is dark gray and is composed of water and
History
Discovery
2002 MS4 was discovered on 18 June 2002 by astronomers
2002 MS4 was found through manual vetting of potential moving objects identified by the team's automatic image-searching software.
Further observations
Since receiving follow-up in August 2002, 2002 MS4 remained unobserved for more than nine months until it was recovered by Trujillo at Palomar Observatory on 29 May 2003, followed by observations by Wolf Bickel at Bergisch Gladbach Observatory in Germany in June 2003.[17] These recovery observations significantly reduced the uncertainty of 2002 MS4's orbit, allowing for further extrapolation of its position backwards in time for identification in precovery observations.[18] Seven precovery observations from Digitized Sky Survey plates were identified by astronomer Andrew Lowe in 2007; the earliest of these was taken on 8 April 1954 by Palomar Observatory.[18][19]: 42 As of 2023[update], 2002 MS4 has been observed for over 68 years, or about 25% of its orbital period.[2][1]
Numbering and naming
2002 MS4 received its permanent
Orbit and classification
2002 MS4 is a
2002 MS4 is located in the classical region of the Kuiper belt 37–48 AU from the Sun,[25]: 227 and is thus classified as a classical Kuiper belt object or cubewano.[3]: 53 2002 MS4's high orbital inclination qualifies it as a dynamically "hot" member of the classical Kuiper belt, which implies that it was gravitationally scattered out to its present location by Neptune's outward planetary migration in the Solar System's early history.[25]: 227, 229 2002 MS4's present orbit is far enough from Neptune (minimum orbit intersection distance 6.6 AU)[1] that it no longer experiences scattering from close encounters with the planet.[4][25]: 214
A dynamical study in 2007 simulated 2002 MS4's orbital evolution over a 10-million-year timespan and found that it may be in an intermittent 18:11 mean-motion orbital resonance with Neptune,[25]: 218 which seems to cause irregular fluctations in 2002 MS4's orbital inclination and eccentricity.[25]: 225 Despite this, researchers do not consider 2002 MS4 to be in resonance with Neptune.[4][3]: 56 [10]: 2
Observability
In the night sky, 2002 MS4 is located near the
Occultations
Date | Star apparent magnitude (V-band) |
Positive detections |
Negative detections[c] |
Number of telescope locations[d] |
Continents observed |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
09 Jul 2019 | 15.00 | 2 | 4 | 10 | South America |
26 Jul 2019 | 17.78 | 3 | 0 | 3 | South America |
26 Jul 2019 | 15.45 | 1 | 0 | 1 | North America |
19 Aug 2019 | 16.51 | 2 | 0 | 2 | North America |
26 Jul 2020 | 14.76 | 2 | 0 | 5 | Africa |
8 Aug 2020 | 14.62 | 61 | 40 | 116 | Europe, Africa, Asia |
24 Feb 2021 | 16.51 | 1 | 1 | 2 | South America |
14 Oct 2021 | 15.83 | 2 | 0 | 14 | North America |
10 Jun 2022 | 15.1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | North America, Africa |
Stellar occultations by 2002 MS4 occur when it passes in front of a star and blocks out its light, causing the star to dim for several seconds until 2002 MS4 emerges.[7]: 2 Observing stellar occultations by 2002 MS4 can provide precise measurements for its position, shape, and size.[7]: 1 [8]: 35 Due to parallax between Earth, 2002 MS4, and the occulted star, occultations by 2002 MS4 may only be observable to certain locations on Earth. For this reason, the 2002 MS4's orbital trajectory and ephemeris must be precisely known before occultation predictions can be reliably made.[7]: 2 [8]: 35
To facilitate occultation predictions for 2002 MS4, astronomers of the European Research Council's Lucky Star project gathered astrometric observations of 2002 MS4 from 2009–2019 to reduce its orbital uncertainty and utilized the Gaia catalogues for high-precision positions of stars.[26][7]: 2 From 2019–2022, the Lucky Star project organized campaigns for astronomers worldwide to observe the predicted occultations by 2002 MS4, yielding nine successfully-observed occultations by the end of the period.[7]: 1, 3 The first successfully-observed occultation by 2002 MS4 took place in South America on 9 July 2019, which yielded two positive detections and four negative detections from the 10 participating telescope locations; the remaining four telescopes were affected by poor weather.[26][7]: 2, 18B.4 More successful observations of 2002 MS4's occultations took place on 26 July and 19 August 2019, which provided highly precise astrometry that helped refine later occultation predictions.[27][7]: 2
On 8 August 2020, the Lucky Star project organized a large observing campaign for 2002 MS4, which would occult a relatively bright star of apparent magnitude 14.6 and be observable over densely-populated regions in multiple continents.[7]: 4 A total of 116 telescope locations from Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia participated in the campaign and yielded 61 positive detections and 40 negative detections, with the remaining 15 telescopes inhibited by poor weather or technical difficulties.[7]: 4, 18B.1–3 The observers of the occultation found no evidence of rings, cometary jets, or natural satellites around 2002 MS4.[7]: 9 This is the most extensive participation in a TNO occultation campaign as of 2023[update].[28]: 1347 [7]: 9 Thanks to the large amount of positive detections across various locations, the global shape outline and topography of 2002 MS4 could be seen clearly for the first time.[29][7]
-
Map showing the location of telescopes that participated in the 8 August 2020 occultation campaign. Telescopes within the path of 2002 MS4's shadow (region between the two solid blue curves) made positive detections (blue and red points), whereas telescopes outside the path made negative detections (green points).
Physical characteristics
Year of Publication |
Diameter (km) |
Method | Refs |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | 726.2+123.2 −122.9 |
thermal (Spitzer) |
[30]: 173 |
2009 | 730+118 −120 |
thermal (Spitzer, remodeled) |
[31]: 291 |
2012 | 934±47 | thermal (Herschel) |
[32]: 10 |
2020 | 770±2 | occultation (9 Jul 2019) |
[26] |
2022 | <810±70 | occultation (26 Jul 2019) |
[33] |
2023 | 796±24 | occultation (8 Aug 2020) |
[7][e] |
Results from the extensively observed 8 August 2020 occultation show that 2002 MS4 has a shape close to that of an
2002 MS4 was previously thought to have a larger diameter of 934 km (580 mi), according to infrared thermal emission measurements made by the Spitzer and Herschel space telescopes in 2006 and 2010.[32]: 4, 7, 10 This thermal emission-derived diameter disagrees with the occultation-derived diameter; if both the thermal emission measurements and occultation-derived diameter are correct, then 2002 MS4 would be emitting more thermal radiation than predicted if it were a non-rotating, simple airless body.[8]: 68, 70, 73 It is not yet clear why 2002 MS4 seems to be emitting excess thermal radiation; it could be possible that either there is an unknown satellite of 2002 MS4 contributing to the excess thermal emission,[7]: 9 or the predictions for 2002 MS4's thermal emission behavior are inaccurate.[8]: 73
The mass and density of 2002 MS4 is unknown since it has no known moons, otherwise estimation of its mass would have been possible by
Surface
2002 MS4 has a gray or spectrally neutral surface color, meaning it reflects similar amounts of light for
Topographic features
The 8 August 2020 occultation revealed massive topographic features along 2002 MS4's northeastern outline, or limb, which notably includes a crater-like depression 322 ± 39 km (200 ± 24 mi) wide and 45.1 ± 1.5 km (28.02 ± 0.93 mi) deep, and a 25+4
−5 km (15.5+2.5
−3.1 mi)-tall peak near the rim of the depression.[7]: 7 Another depression feature about 10 km (6.2 mi) wide and 11 km (6.8 mi) deep was detected by a single telescope from Varages, France during the occultation; this depression feature partially occulted the star as 2002 MS4 emerged, which resulted in the star brightening gradually instead of instantly.[7]: 7 The elevations of these observed topographic features lie beyond the maximum elevation of 6–7 km (3.7–4.3 mi) expected for an icy body of 2002 MS4's size, signifying that the object may have experienced a large impact in its past.[7]: 6, 9 It would be possible for 2002 MS4 to support its massive topographic features if its material strength increases toward its core.[7]: 6 Topographic features on other TNOs have been previously observed through occultation, such as (208996) 2003 AZ84 which has a depression feature at least 8 km (5 mi) deep.[41][42]
The topographic peak on 2002 MS4 has a height comparable to Mars's tallest mountain, Olympus Mons, and the central mound of the Rheasilvia crater on asteroid Vesta.[42][43] If 2002 MS4's topographic peak is a mountain, then it would qualify as one of the tallest known mountains in the Solar System.[42] It is possible that this topographic peak may actually be an unknown 213 km (132 mi)-diameter satellite that was passing in front or behind 2002 MS4 during the occultation, but this scenario is unlikely according to Bruno Sicardy, one of the occultation team members.[7]: 9, 25 [42] A satellite of this size would not be large enough to explain 2002 MS4's excess thermal emission.[7]: 25
If 2002 MS4's massive depression is a crater, then it would be the first observation of a massive crater on a TNO.
Rotation and light curve
The
Exploration
New Horizons
The
-
2002 MS4 imaged by theNew Horizonsspacecraft in July 2016, from a distance of 15.3 AU (2.3 billion km; 1.4 billion mi)
-
New Horizons trajectory through the Kuiper belt, with positions of nearby KBOs including 2002 MS4 labeled
Proposed
2002 MS4 has been considered as a possible exploration target for future missions to the Kuiper belt and beyond, such as NASA's Interstellar Probe concept.[46] A 2019 study by Amanda Zangari and collaborators identified several possible trajectories to 2002 MS4 for a spacecraft that would be launched in 2025–2040.[47] For a spacecraft launched in 2027–2031, a single gravity assist from Jupiter could bring a spacecraft to 2002 MS4 over a minimum duration of 9.1–12.8 years, depending on the excess launch energy of the spacecraft.[47]: 922 Another trajectory using a single Jupiter gravity assist for a 2040 launch date could bring a spacecraft to 2002 MS4 over a minimum duration of 13 years.[47]: 922 A 2038–2040 launch trajectory using a single Saturn gravity assist could bring a spacecraft to 2002 MS4 over a minimum duration of 16.7 years,[47]: 925 while a 2038–2040 launch trajectory using two gravity assists from Jupiter and Saturn could bring a spacecraft to 2002 MS4 over a minimum duration of 18.6–19.5 years.[47]: 923
See also
Notes
- triaxial ellipsoid on the other hand, then it would produce a double-peaked light curve, where the object's true rotation period is double the single-peaked period since it spans two peaks and two troughs in its light curve.[9]: 77
- Solar System Barycenter (SSB) as the frame of reference.[5] Due to planetary perturbations, the Sun revolves around the SSB at non-negligible distances, so heliocentric-frame orbital elements and distances can vary in short timescales as shown in JPL-Horizons.[22]
- ^ Telescopes that were affected by poor weather or technical problems are not counted as negative detections.
- ^ Telescopes that are located in the same place or are located very close together are considered single locations.
- ^ Rommel et al. previously reported a diameter of 800±24 km in a 2021 conference talk about their preliminary 8 August 2020 occultation results.[29] This preliminary diameter estimate has been superseded by the more recent estimate of 796±24 km in their paper published in 2023.[7]
- ^ Pluto has an over-1,000 km (620 mi)-wide ice-covered basin named Sputnik Planitia, although it is unclear whether it originated from an impact.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "(307261) = 2002 MS4". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- ^ a b c d e "JPL Small-Body Database Lookup: 307261 (2002 MS4)" (2022-07-04 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
- ^ S2CID 14469199.
- ^ a b c Buie, Marc W. "Orbit Fit and Astrometric record for 307261". Southwest Research Institute. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- ^ Barycenter. Ephemeris Type: Elements and Center: @0)
- ^ a b "JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris for 307261 (2002 MS4) from 2123-Jan-01 to 2124-Jan-01". JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 28 June 2022. (Perihelion occurs when deldot changes from negative to positive. Uncertainty in time of perihelion is 1-sigma from JPL Small-Body Database.)
- ^ S2CID 260926329. A167.
- ^ hdl:1828/15363. Archived(PDF) from the original on 9 September 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
- ^ (PDF) from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
- ^ . 95.
- ^ a b c d e Cook, J. C.; Brunetto, R.; De Souza Feliciano, A. C.; Emery, J.; Holler, B.; Parker, A. H.; et al. (June 2023). Hapke Modeling of Several KBOs from JWST Observations (ePoster) (PDF). Asteroids, Comets, Meteors Conference 2023. Lunar and Planetary Institute. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 December 2023.
- ^ S2CID 125183388. 210.
- ^ a b "(307261) 2002MS4 Ephemerides". Asteroids Dynamic Site. Department of Mathematics, University of Pisa, Italy. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- ^ S2CID 189905639.
- ISBN 978-0-387-77804-4.
- ^ Bibcode:2002MPEC....W...27T. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
- ^ "MPEC 2003-M44 : 2002 KW14, 2002 MS4". Minor Planet Electronic Circular. Minor Planet Center. 29 May 2003. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
- ^ a b c Lowe, Andrew. "(307261) 2002 MS4 Precovery Images". andrew-lowe.ca. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
- ^ "M.P.S. 231732" (PDF). Minor Planet Circulars Supplement (231732). Minor Planet Center: 42. 30 December 2007. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- ^ "M.P.C. 77416" (PDF). Minor Planet Circulars (77416). Minor Planet Center: 292. 10 December 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
- ^ a b "Rules and Guidelines for Naming Non-Cometary Small Solar-System Bodies" (PDF). IAU Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature. 20 December 2021. p. 10. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
- ^ "JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris for 307261 (2002 MS4) at epochs JD 2450000.5–2460000.5". JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 28 June 2022. Solution using the Sun. Ephemeris Type: Elements and Center: @sun)
- ^ "JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris for 307261 (2002 MS4) from 1853-Jan-01 to 1854-Jan-01". JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 28 June 2022. (Perihelion occurs when deldot changes from negative to positive. Uncertainty in time of perihelion is 1-sigma from JPL Small-Body Database.)
- ^ "JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris for 307261 (2002 MS4) from 1987-Jan-01 to 1988-Jan-01". JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 10 December 2022. (Perihelion occurs when deldot changes from negative to positive. Uncertainty in time of perihelion is 1-sigma from JPL Small-Body Database.)
- ^ S2CID 122671996.
- ^ . EPSC2020-866. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
- ^ "2002 MS4 08/08/2020". ERC Lucky Star project. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
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- ^ a b Cook, J. C.; Brunetto, R.; De Souza Feliciano, A. C.; Emery, J.; Holler, B.; Parker, A. H.; et al. (June 2023). Hapke Modeling of Several KBOs from JWST Observations (PDF). Asteroids, Comets, Meteors Conference 2023. Lunar and Planetary Institute. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 December 2023.
- S2CID 119098862. 22.
- ^ a b c d O'Callaghan, Jonathan (29 August 2023). "Massive crater found on distant world far beyond Neptune". New Scientist. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
- ^ a b Schenk, P.; Marchi, S.; O'Brien, D. P.; Buczkowski, D. L.; Jaumann, R.; Yingst, A.; et al. (March 2012). Mega-Impacts into Planetary Bodies: Global Effects of the Giant Rheasilvia Impact Basin on Vesta (PDF). 43rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Lunar and Planetary Institute. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 October 2015.
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