20000 Varuna
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|
| Discovery A (http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/NumberedMPs.html) | |
|---|---|
| Discoverer | R. McMillan (Spacewatch) |
| Discovery date | 28 November 2000 |
| Alternate designations | 2000 WR106 B (http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/MPDes.html) |
| Category | Kuiper belt |
| Orbital elements C (http://asteroid.lowell.edu/) Epoch 14 July 2004 (JD 2453200.5) | |
| Eccentricity (e) | 0.051 |
| Semi-major axis (a) | 6451.398 Gm (43.129 AU) |
| Perihelion (q) | 6120.810 Gm (40.915 AU) |
| Aphelion (Q) | 6781.985 Gm (45.335 AU) |
| Orbital period (P) | 103440.6 days (283.20 years) |
| Mean orbital speed | 4.53 km/s |
| Inclination (i) | 17.2° |
| Longitude of the ascending node (Ω) | 97.296° |
| Argument of perihelion (ω) | 271.631° |
| Mean anomaly (M) | 89.673° |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 530 +90 −110 km radius |
| Mass | ~5.9 × 1020 kg |
| Density | ~1 g/cm³ |
| Surface gravity | 0.15 m/s² |
| Escape velocity | 0.39 km/s |
| Rotation period | 0.26432 days (3.17 hours) |
| Spectral class | |
| Absolute magnitude | 3.7 |
| Albedo | 0.038 +0.022 −0.010 |
| Mean surface temperature | ~43 K |
20000 Varuna ("VAR oo na") is a Kuiper Belt object about 1060 kilometers in diameter, estimated from a combination of thermal and optical measurements.
Little is known about Varuna. It has a rotational period of approximately 3.17 hours (or 6.34 hours, depending on whether the light curve is single or double-peaked). It has a density of approximately 1 g/cm3 (as dense as water), which implies that it may not be a fully solid body [1] (http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~jewitt/papers/VARUNA2/JS2002.pdf).
It is named after the Hindu god Varuna. It previously had the provisional designation 2000 WR106.
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de:Varuna (Asteroid) fr:20000 Varuna nl:Varuna (planetoïde) sl:20000 Varuna