2014 PN70

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2014 PN70
Synodic rotation period
12.05 h[9]
0.04–0.10[7]
0.04–0.15[6]
V–I = 1.34[10]
26.1[10]
10.3[3]

2014 PN70 (internally designated g12000JZ, g1 and PT3) is a

New Horizons Search Team using the Hubble Space Telescope on 6 August 2014, and was a proposed flyby target for the New Horizons probe until 2015, when the alternative target 486958 Arrokoth was selected.[2]

Discovery and designations

The orbits of New Horizons potential targets 1–3. 2014 PN70 is in green. 2014 OS393 (PT2) is in red. 486958 Arrokoth (PT1) is in blue.

2014 PN70 was discovered by the

provisional designation, 2014 PN70, was not assigned by the Minor Planet Center until March 2015 after better orbit information was available.[2]

Orbit and classification

2014 PN70 is a

semi-major axis of 44.4 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.05 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic.[3]
This makes it a typical member of the "cold population" among the cubewanos in the Kuiper belt.

The body's

Mauna Kea Observatory on Hawaii, six week prior to its official first observation by Hubble.[1]

Numbering and naming

This minor planet has not been numbered by the Minor Planet Center and remains unnamed.[1]

Physical characteristics

2014 PN70, has a diameter approximately 35–55 km (22–34 mi), based on an estimated

albedo between 0.04 and 0.10 respectively.[7] Astronomer Marc Buie gives a similar estimate of 30–55 km (19–34 mi), and the Johnston's archive calculated a diameter of 39 km.[5] Based on generic magnitude-to-diameter conversion, the object measures 44 km, for an absolute magnitude of 10.3 and an assumed albedo of 0.07.[8] Hubble observations of 2014 PN70 show that it is very red in color.[10]

Exploration

Trajectory of New Horizons and other nearby Kuiper belt objects
2014 PN70, imaged in January 2019 by the New Horizons space probe from a distance of 93 million km

Having completed its flyby of

2014 MU69 (PT1), because more fuel was required to carry out a flyby. 2014 OS393 (PT2) was already no longer under consideration as a potential target.[15] On 28 August 2015, the New Horizons team announced the selection of 2014 MU69 (later named 486958 Arrokoth) as the next flyby target.[16]

2014 PN70 is one of the objects that New Horizons observed from greater distances, as part of its extended Kuiper belt mission. The spacecraft passed 2014 PN70 in March 2019, at a distance of approximately 0.1 AU (15 million km; 9.3 million mi). This made 2014 PN70 the third closest KBO observed by New Horizons, after Arrokoth and 2014 OS393.[17] New Horizons made its first observations of 2014 PN70 on 5 January 2019, from a distance of 92.7 million km.[18]

New Horizons did not come close enough to resolve either 2014 PN70 or 2014 OS393, but the observations should be sufficient to determine the rotation periods and surface properties of these objects and to search for possible satellites. The distant KBO observations provide an important context for the data collected during the close flyby of Arrokoth.[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "2014 PN70". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d Zangari, Amanda (28 March 2015). "Postcards from Pluto". Tumblr.
  3. ^ a b c "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2014 PN70)" (2014-10-22 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  4. Marc W. Buie. "Orbit Fit and Astrometric record for 14PN70"
    . SwRI (Space Science Department). Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  5. ^ a b c Johnston, Wm. Robert (30 December 2017). "List of Known Trans-Neptunian Objects". Johnston's Archive. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  6. ^
    Buie, Marc (15 October 2014). "New Horizons HST KBO Search Results: Status Report" (PDF). Space Telescope Science Institute. p. 23. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 27 July 2015.
  7. ^
    Planetary Society. Archived
    from the original on 15 October 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Asteroid Size Estimator". CNEOS NASA/JPL. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  9. Bibcode:2021DPS....5330701V
    . 307.01.
  10. ^
    S2CID 119192900
    .
  11. Bibcode:2015EPSC...10..417S
    .
  12. ^ "Hubble to Proceed with Full Search for New Horizons Targets". HubbleSite news release. Space Telescope Science Institute. 1 July 2014.
  13. ^ "NASA's Hubble Telescope Finds Potential Kuiper Belt Targets for New Horizons Pluto Mission". HubbleSite. 15 October 2014.
  14. ^ Wall, Mike (15 October 2014). "Hubble Telescope Spots Post-Pluto Targets for New Horizons Probe". Space.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2014.
  15. ^ Powell, Corey S. (29 March 2015). "Alan Stern on Pluto's Wonders, New Horizons' Lost Twin, and That Whole "Dwarf Planet" Thing". Discover. Archived from the original on 16 November 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  16. ^ Cofield, Calla (28 August 2015). "Beyond Pluto: 2nd Target Chosen for New Horizons Probe". Space.com.
  17. S2CID 119506499
    .
  18. ^ "NH LORRI KEM1". pdssbn.astro.umd.edu. Planetary Data System. 18 October 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  19. ^ Alan Stern (14 April 2016). "To Boldly Go On, In the Service of Exploration". pluto.jhuapl.edu. Retrieved 22 September 2018.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2014_PN70&oldid=1219517524"