1996 PW

Small Solar System body November 2018 yes 1996 PW #C2E0FF 1996PW NEAT-discovery-crop.gif Discovery images of 1996 PW from NEAT-GEODSS in August 1996 NEAT Haleakala Obs. 9 August 1996 1996 PW TNOdamocloiddistantunusual 21 November 2025 (JD 2461000.5) 2 1.43 yr (524 d) 541.93 AU 2.5698 AU 272.25 AU 0.9906 4492 yr (1,640,761 d) 2.3480° 0.0002 ms / day 29.691° 144.61° 181.88° 1.742 7 km8 km (est. at 0.15)15 km (est. at 0.04) 35.44 h Ld (SMASS)DB–R 0.56 0.04V–I 1.03 0.06V–J 1.80 0.05V–H 2.19 0.05V–K 2.32 0.05 13.9 1996 PW is an exceptionally eccentric trans-Neptunian object and damocloid on an orbit typical of long-period comets but one that showed no sign of cometary activity around the time it was discovered. The unusual object measures approximately 10 km mi off 1 us in diameter and has a rotation period of 35.4 hours and likely an elongated shape. Description 1996 PW orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.5–504 AU once every 4,033 years (semi-major axis of 253 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.99 and an inclination of 30° with respect to the ecliptic. Simulations indicate that it has most likely come from the Oort cloud, with a roughly equal probability of being an extinct comet and a rocky body that was originally scattered into the Oort cloud. The discovery of 1996 PW prompted theoretical research that suggests that roughly 1 to 2 percent of the Oort cloud objects are rocky. 1996 PW was first observed on 9 August 1996 by the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) automated search camera on Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii. It is the first object that is not an active comet discovered on an orbit typical of long-period comets. 1996 PW has a rotation period of 35.44 0.02 hours and a double-peaked lightcurve with a high amplitude of 0.44 0.03 magnitude (U=3). Its spectrum is moderately red and featureless, typical of D-type asteroids and bare comet nuclei. Its spectrum suggests an extinct comet. The upper limit on 1996 PW's dust production is 0.03 kg/s. See also Extinct comets List of Solar System objects by greatest aphelion References 1997-12-28 last obs. JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (1996 PW) https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=3009162 Jet Propulsion Laboratory 17 January 2018 1996 PW Minor Planet Center https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=1996+PW 17 January 2018 List of Known Trans-Neptunian Objects Johnston's Archive 15 October 2017 Johnston, Wm. Robert http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/astro/tnoslist.html 17 January 2018 2009-05-02 Table of Damocloid objects, or Oort cloud asteroids Lowell Observatory Akimasa Nakamura http://ftp.lowell.edu/pub/bas/damocloid 17 January 2018 List Of Other Unusual Objects Minor Planet Center https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/t_others.html 14 November 2018 Paul R. Weissman Harold F. Lecison March 1997 Origin and evolution of the unusual object 1996 PW The Astrophysical Journal 488 2 529 1997LPI....28.1529W 10.1086/310940 free Toth Imre December 2005 Connections between asteroids and cometary nuclei Asteroids 1 67–96 2006IAUS..229...67T 10.1017/S174392130500668X free M. D. Hicks B. J. Buratti R. L. Newburn D. L. Rabinowitz February 2000 Physical Observations of 1996 PW and 1997 SE5: Extinct Comets or D-Type Asteroids? Icarus 143 2 354–359 2000Icar..143..354H 10.1006/icar.1999.6258 Schelte J. Bus Richard P. Binzel July 2002 Phase II of the Small Main-Belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey. A Feature-Based Taxonomy http://www.cesr.fr/~klotz/ohpstages/bus_spectrum1_sdarticle.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20150923202038/http://www.cesr.fr/~klotz/ohpstages/bus_spectrum1_sdarticle.pdf dead 2015-09-23 Icarus 158 1 146–177 2002Icar..158..146B 10.1006/icar.2002.6856 20 November 2018 1996 PW 20 November 2018 6 John K. Davies Neil McBride Simon F. Green Stefano Mottola Uri Carsenty Devinder Basran Kathryn A. Hudson Michael J. Foster April 1998 The Lightcurve and Colors of Unusual Minor Planet 1996 PW Icarus 132 2 418–430 1998Icar..132..418D 10.1006/icar.1998.5888 External links 1996 PW, Small Bodies Data Ferret 1996PW 3009162 # Category:Damocloids # Category:Minor planet object articles (unnumbered) Category:Discoveries by NEAT Category:Ld-type asteroids (SMASS) 19960809 Category:Inner Oort cloud