 2012 VP113 imaged by theCanada–France–Hawaii Telescope on 9 October 2021 | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | |
| Discovery site | Cerro Tololo Obs. |
| Discovery date | 5 November 2012 |
| Designations | |
| 2012 VP113 | |
| Biden (nickname) | |
| Orbital characteristics (barycentric)[4] | |
| Epoch 5 May 2025 (JD 2460800.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 3[2] | |
| Observation arc | 16.94 yr (6,187 d) |
| Earliestprecovery date | 19 September 2007 |
| Aphelion | 444.1 AU |
| Perihelion | 80.52 AU |
| 262.3 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.6931 |
| 4,246 yr[4] | |
| 24.05° | |
| 0° 0m 0.836s / day | |
| Inclination | 24.0563°±0.006° |
| 90.80° | |
| ≈ September 1979[5] | |
| 293.90° | |
| Knownsatellites | 0 |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 450 km (calc. foralbedo 0.15)[6] | |
| |
| 23.5[7] | |
| 4.05[2] | |
2012 VP113 is atrans-Neptunian object (TNO) orbiting theSun on an extremely wideelliptical orbit. It is classified as asednoid because its orbit never comes closer than 80.5 AU (12.04 billion km; 7.48 billion mi) from the Sun, which is far enough away from thegiant planets that their gravitational influence cannot affect the object's orbit noticeably. It was discovered on 5 November 2012 atCerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, by American astronomersScott Sheppard andChad Trujillo, who nicknamed the object "Biden" because of its "VP" abbreviation.[8] The discovery was announced on 26 March 2014.[6][8] The object's size has not been measured, but its brightness suggests it is around 450 km (280 mi) in diameter.[6][9]2012 VP113 has a reddish color similar to many other TNOs.[6]
2012 VP113 has not yet been imaged by high-resolution telescopes, so it has no known moons.[10] TheHubble Space Telescope is planned to image2012 VP113 in 2026, which should determine if it has significantly sized moons.[10]
2012 VP113 was first reported to have been observed on 5 November 2012[1] withNOAO's 4-meterVíctor M. Blanco Telescope at theCerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory.[11]Carnegie's 6.5-meterMagellan telescope atLas Campanas Observatory in Chile was used to determine its orbit and surface properties.[11]
Before being announced to the public,2012 VP113 was only tracked by Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (807) and Las Campanas Observatory (304).[12]
2012 VP113 had previously been observed (but not reported) as early as September 2007.[12]
2012 VP113 was abbreviated "VP" and nicknamed "Biden" by the discovery team, afterJoe Biden who was then thevice president ("VP") of theUnited States in 2012.[8]
It has anabsolute magnitude of 4.0,[12] which means it may be large enoughto be a dwarf planet.[13] The diameter andgeometric albedo of2012 VP113 has not been measured.[6][9] If2012 VP113 has a moderategeometric albedo of 15% (typical of TNOs), its diameter would be around 450 km (280 mi).[6] A wider range of albedos gives a possible diameter range of 300–1,000 km (190–620 mi).[9] It is expected to be about half the size ofSedna and similar in size toHuya.[9] Its surface is moderately red in color, resulting from chemical changes produced by the effect of radiation on frozen water, methane, and carbon dioxide.[14] This optical color is consistent with formation in the gas-giant region and not the classicalKuiper belt, which is dominated by ultra-red colored objects.[6]
2012 VP113 has the farthestperihelion (closest approach to the Sun) of all knownminor planets and all known objects in theSolar System as of 2025[update], greater thanSedna's.[15] Though its perihelion is farther,2012 VP113 has anaphelion only about half of Sedna's. It is the second discoveredsednoid, with a semi-major axis beyond150 AU and a perihelion greater than50 AU. The similarity of the orbit of2012 VP113 to other known extreme trans-Neptunian objects led Scott Sheppard and Chad Trujillo to suggest that an undiscovered object,Planet Nine, in the outer Solar System is shepherding these distant objects into similar type orbits.[6].
Its last perihelion was within a couple months of September 1979.[5] The paucity of bodies with perihelia at50–75 AU appears not to be an observational artifact.[6]
It is possibly a member of a hypothesizedHills cloud.[9][11][16] It has a perihelion,argument of perihelion, and current position in the sky similar to those of Sedna.[9] In fact, all known Solar System bodies with semi-major axes over150 AU and perihelia greater thanNeptune's have arguments of perihelion clustered near340°±55°.[6] This could indicate a similar formation mechanism for these bodies.[6](148209) 2000 CR105 was the first such object discovered.
It is currently unknown how2012 VP113 acquired a perihelion distance beyond the Kuiper belt. The characteristics of its orbit, like those of Sedna's, have been explained as possibly created by apassing star or atrans-Neptunian planet of severalEarth masses hundreds of astronomical units from the Sun.[17] The orbital architecture of the trans-Plutonian region may signal the presence of more than one planet.[18][19]2012 VP113 could even be captured from another planetary system.[13] However, it is considered more likely that the perihelion of2012 VP113 was raised by multiple interactions within the crowded confines of theopen star cluster in which the Sun formed.[9]
2014 in space | ||
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Space probe launches |
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| Impact events | ||
| SelectedNEOs | ||
| Exoplanets | ||
| Discoveries |
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| Space exploration |
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| Consensus | _(cropped).jpg)  | ||||||||||||
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| Candidate (for TNOs, D+1σ ≥ 700 km or H ≤ 4.0) |
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