| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Palomarteam |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | 13 July 2004 |
| Designations | |
| (444030)2004 NT33 | |
| 2004 NT33 | |
| TNO[1] · cubewano[2] Extended[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 3 | |
| Observation arc | 33.99 yr (12,415 days) |
| Earliestprecovery date | 10 August 1982 |
| Aphelion | 50.014AU |
| Perihelion | 36.838 AU |
| 43.426 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1517 |
| 286.18yr (104,527 days) | |
| 41.709° | |
| 0° 0m 12.24s / day | |
| Inclination | 31.231° |
| 240.87° | |
| 37.400° | |
| Knownsatellites | 0 |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 423+87 −80 km[4] |
| 7.87±0.05h[2] | |
| 0.125[4] | |
| 20.94[5] | |
| 4.4[2] · 4.7[1] | |
(444030) 2004 NT33 is atrans-Neptunian object from theclassical Kuiper belt, approximately 450 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 13 July 2004, by astronomers atPalomar Observatory, California, United States.[6]
2004 NT33 is a "cubewano", aclassical, low-eccentricity object in the Kuiper belt, that orbits the Sun at a distance of 36.8–50.0 AU once every 286 years and 2 months (104,527 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.15 and aninclination of 31° with respect to theecliptic.[1] It is currently 39 AU from the Sun.[5]
A firstprecovery was taken at theSiding Spring Observatory in 1982, extending the body'sobservation arc by 22 years prior to its official discovery observation at Palomar.[6]
In 2009, astronomers obtained a rotationallightcurve of2004 NT33 from photometric observations, which were taken at theGalileo National Telescope (TNG) on the island of La Palma, and at theSierra Nevada Observatory in Granada, both located in Spain. The ambiguous lightcurve gave arotation period of 7.87 hours with a low brightness amplitude of 0.04magnitude.[2]
According to the "TNOs are Cool"survey, using observations from the space-basedHerschel andSpitzer telescopes,2004 NT33 measures 423 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a visual geometricalbedo of 0.125.[4]
As of 2025[update], thisminor planet remains unnamed.[6]
