| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | D. C. Jewitt C. Trujillo J. X. Luu J. Chen |
| Discovery site | Mauna Kea Obs. |
| Discovery date | 8 October 1996 |
| Designations | |
| (20161) 1996 TR66 | |
| TNO[1] · twotino[2][3] distant[4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 4 | |
| Observation arc | 12.04 yr (4,398 days) |
| Aphelion | 66.612AU |
| Perihelion | 28.630 AU |
| 47.621 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.3988 |
| 328.63yr (120,032 d) | |
| 55.593° | |
| 0° 0m 10.8s / day | |
| Inclination | 12.436° |
| 343.11° | |
| 308.70° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 139 km[5] |
| 7.5[1] | |
(20161) 1996 TR66 is atrans-Neptunian object orbiting beyondPluto in theKuiper belt of the outermostSolar System, approximately 139 kilometers (86 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 8 October 1996, by astronomersDavid Jewitt,Chad Trujillo,Jane Luu, andJun Chen at theMauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii, in the United States.[4] It was the first discovery of atwotino.
It orbits the Sun at a distance of 28.6–66.6 AU once every 328 years and 8 months (120,032 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.40 and aninclination of 12° with respect to theecliptic.[1] Nearperihelion, it comes closer to the Sun than Neptune does (29.7 AU). It has asemi-major axis (average distance from the Sun)near the edge of the classical belt.
1996 TR66 was the firsttwotino discovered. Twotinos stay in a1:2 orbital resonance withNeptune, which means that for every one orbit a twotino makes,Neptune orbits two times. Both theMinor Planet Center and theDeep Ecliptic Survey list this trans-Neptunian object as atwotino.[2][3]
Thisminor planet wasnumbered by theMinor Planet Center on 9 January 2001.[6] As of 2025, it has not beennamed.[4]
using 22 observations
