(119951) 2002 KX14

Classical Kuiper belt object June 2023 yes (119951) 2002 KX 14 #C2E0FF 2002 KX14 Hubble 8x upscale.png 2002 KX 14 imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope on 7 April 2006 17 May 2002 Chadwick A. TrujilloMichael E. Brown Palomar Obs. (119951) 2002 KX 14 TNOclassical (inner55/cold)distant yes 25 February 2023 (JD 2460000.5) 2 38.96 yr (14,230 d) 31 May 1984 40.515 AU 37.055 AU ≈ 30 May 2085±3.0 days 38.785 AU 0.04461 241.39 yr (88,166 d) 270.086° 0.0040832 ms / day 0.403° 286.795° 73.695° 0 (1 unconfirmed) (482.0 14.4 km) × (314.2 10.4 km) (projected) 389.2 8.7 km (area equivalent) 0.119 0.007 IR–RR (red)304 B−V 1.05 0.0331 V−R 0.61 0.0231 4.978 0.017 (2016)4.862 0.038 (2012)4.71 (JPL) 20.8 30 - 50 K (119951) 2002 KX 14 is a trans-Neptunian object located in the inner classical Kuiper belt. It was discovered on 17 May 2002 by Michael E. Brown and Chad Trujillo at Palomar Observatory, during a search for Pluto-sized objects beyond the orbit of Neptune. Observations have shown that 2002 KX 14 is a highly flattened object with an equatorial diameter of 482 km mi and a maximum polar diameter of 314 km mi. The surface of 2002 KX 14 is dark and reddish, likely because it is covered with tholins. The object is suspected to have one large moon, although it has not been confirmed with direct observations. History Discovery 2002 KX 14 was discovered on 17 May 2002 by astronomers Chad Trujillo and Michael Brown at Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, United States. The discovery formed part of their Caltech Wide Area Sky Survey for bright, Pluto-sized Kuiper belt objects using the observatory's 1.22 m in on us Samuel Oschin telescope with its wide-field CCD camera, which was operated jointly with the nightly Near Earth Asteroid Tracking program at Palomar.100 This survey was responsible for the discovery of several other large objects beyond Neptune, which includes the dwarf planets Eris, Sedna, and Quaoar.214 2002 KX 14 was found through manual vetting of potential moving objects identified by the team's automatic image-searching software.101 It was detected at a red-filter apparent magnitude of 20.6, marginally brighter than the survey's limiting magnitude of 20.7.99, 103 Follow-up observations were conducted one month later with Palomar Observatory's 1.52 m in on us telescope on 13–14 June 2002. The discovery was announced by the Minor Planet Center on 20 July 2002 and the object was given the minor planet provisional designation of 2002 KX 14. thumb|center|The 1.2-meter Samuel Oschin telescope that was used to discover 2002 KX 14 at Palomar Observatory Further observations and occultations After the publication of 2002 KX 14's discovery, astronomers continued observing the object and identified additional observations from the time of or before its discovery. In particular, 2002 KX 14 had been identified in pre-discovery observations by the Cerro Tololo Observatory from August 2001 and the Siding Spring Observatory's Digitized Sky Survey from May 1984 and April 1993. These additional observations helped reduce the uncertainty of 2002 KX 14's orbit. 2025, 2002 KX 14 has been observed for over 38 years, or about 16% of its orbital period. 2026, 2002 KX 14 is located in the Milky Way's galactic plane in the sky, where it is densely filled with stars. Although this crowded location complicates measurements of 2002 KX 14's rotation period, it offers a higher chance of observing stellar occultations, where 2002 KX 14 passes in front of a star. Stellar occultations allow astronomers to accurately measure the size, shape, and position of 2002 KX 14. The first stellar occultation by 2002 KX 14 was observed on 26 April 2012 by the William Herschel Telescope at La Palma Observatory. From 2020 to 2023, five more stellar occultations were observed by multiple telescopes across Europe and the Americas. Numbering and naming 2002 KX 14 received its permanent minor planet catalog number of 119951 from the Minor Planet Center on 16 November 2005.71 2002 KX 14 does not have a proper name and the discoverers' privilege for naming this object has expired ten years after it was numbered.6 According to naming guidelines by the International Astronomical Union's Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature, 2002 KX 14 is open for name suggestions that relate to creation myths, as encouraged for Kuiper belt objects in general.8 Orbit and classification thumb|Diagram showing the orbits of 2002 KX 14 (white) and the outer planets 2002 KX 14 is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) orbiting the Sun at a semi-major axis or average distance of 38.8 astronomical units (AU).barycentric These orbital elements are expressed in terms of the Solar System Barycenter (SSB) as the frame of reference. Due to planetary perturbations, the Sun revolves around the SSB at non-negligible distances, so heliocentric-frame orbital elements and distances can vary in short timescales as shown in JPL-Horizons. Its orbit is nearly circular with a low orbital eccentricity of 0.04. In its 241-year-long orbit, 2002 KX 14 comes within 37.1 AU from the Sun at perihelion and up to 40.5 AU at aphelion. It has a low orbital inclination of 0.4° with respect to the ecliptic, closely aligned with the orbits of the Solar System's planets. 2002 KX 14 last passed perihelion in July 1840 and will make its next perihelion passage in May 2085. 2002 KX 14's orbit is not resonant with Neptune and is located in the inner classical region of the Kuiper belt within 39.4 AU from the Sun, making it an inner classical Kuiper belt object (KBO).53, 55 The 2:3 orbital resonance by Neptune (which contains the plutinos) separates the inner classical Kuiper belt from the main classical Kuiper belt (which spans 42 - 48 AU from the Sun).53 2002 KX 14's low orbital inclination and eccentricity qualifies it as a dynamically "cold" member of the classical Kuiper belt. Cold classical KBOs are believed to be primordial planetesimals whose orbits have remained relatively unchanged since their formation, although this may not apply to the inner classical Kuiper belt.30 Astronomer Esa Vilenius and collaborators argued that inner classical KBOs like 2002 KX 14 more likely belong to the dynamically "hot" population of classical KBOs, especially if they have relatively large diameters.2 In contrast to cold classical KBOs, hot classical KBOs are typically found on inclined and eccentric orbits because they have been gravitationally scattered by Neptune's migration during the early Solar System. Physical characteristics Size and shape thumb|upright=1.5|The oblate shape of 2002 KX 14, as seen in occultation observations from 26 May 2020 thumb|2002 KX 14, its unconfirmed moon and Vesta in a size comparison. Observations of stellar occultations show that 2002 KX 14 is a highly flattened object with an equatorial diameter of 482.0 ± 14.4 km mi and a projected (maximum) polar diameter of 314.2 ± 10.4 km mi. It is one of the largest known cold classical KBOs.52732 The projected shape of 2002 KX 14 appeared constant in five different occultation observations from 2020 to 2023, which suggests it is shaped like an oblate spheroid.5 If 2002 KX 14 is a Maclaurin spheroid (a self-gravitating fluid body in hydrostatic equilibrium) and has an average TNO rotation period of 7 hours, then it would have a density of 0.9 g/cm3.5–6 However, this prediction for 2002 KX 14's density cannot be confirmed as the object's rotation period is unknown and its true shape has not been confirmed.6 Rotation The rotation period of 2002 KX 14 is unknown. Astronomers have attempted to photometrically measure 2002 KX 14's rotation period by monitoring changes in its brightness over time (light curves), but were unable to find any significant brightness variations exceeding 0.05 magnitudes.6 If 2002 KX 14 is spheroidal, its low brightness variations may be caused by surface albedo features rotating in and out of view.5 The photometric measurement of 2002 KX 14's rotation is further complicated by the object's location in the sky overlapping with the Milky Way's dense star fields, where background stars can obscure the object.6 Surface and spectrum The surface of 2002 KX 14 is dark and reddish in visible light,2 with a geometric albedo of 0.119. In Barucci et al.'s classification scheme for TNO color indices, 2002 KX 14 either belongs to the IR or RR group of TNOs with "red" colors, which are common within the classical Kuiper belt population.304–305 Visible and near-infrared spectroscopy of 2002 KX 14 by ground-based telescopes show that it has a featureless spectrum lacking absorption bands from materials such as ices.2 The reddish color and featureless spectrum of 2002 KX 14 indicates that its surface is probably covered with complex organic compounds (tholins) or silicates. The red coloration of other TNOs is typically attributed to tholins on their surface, which are formed by the irradiation of ices and simple organic compounds by solar and cosmic radiation.62 A 2021 study led by Fernández-Valenzuela et al. suggested that the composition of 2002 KX 14's surface is 20 10 % water, 60 10 % silicates, and 20 10 % organics. Possible satellite 2002 KX 14 is not known to have natural satellites or moons, although there is indirect evidence for one orbiting close to it. A 2026 study led by José Gómez-Limón found that 2002 KX 14 emits more thermal radiation than expected for its size, which appears to be best explained if it had a thermally-emitting moon. Based on the difference between 2002 KX 14's measured and predicted thermal emission, the diameter of its possible moon is inferred to be 251 65 57 km (156 40 35 mi)—about two-thirds the diameter of 2002 KX 14. Such a large moon would make 2002 KX 14 a binary system, whose origin likely comes from either streaming instability or an impact. Hubble Space Telescope images from 2006 showed no moon around 2002 KX 14, which suggests it orbits too closely to be resolved. Stellar occultation observations from 2020 to 2023 also found no moon around 2002 KX 14. However, these occultation observations only searched a small region of space surrounding 2002 KX 14, so it is likely that they missed the putative moon of 2002 KX 14. See also (556416) 2014 OE 394, one of the largest cold classical Kuiper belt objects (84522) 2002 TC 302, a similarly-sized trans-Neptunian object whose shape has been characterized by stellar occultations (84922) 2003 VS 2, another similarly-sized trans-Neptunian object whose shape has been characterized by stellar occultations (612533) 2002 XV 93, a similarly-sized trans-Neptunian object discovered to have an atmosphere in stellar occultation observations Notes References 30em 2023-05-17 last obs. JPL Small-Body Database Lookup: 119951 (2002 KX14) https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=2119951 Jet Propulsion Laboratory 26 March 2025 JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris for 119951 (2002 KX14) at epoch JD 2460000.5 https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons_batch.cgi?batch=1&COMMAND='119951'&TABLE_TYPE='ELEMENTS'&START_TIME='JD2460000.5'&STOP_TIME='JD2460200.5'&STEP_SIZE='1y'&CENTER='@0'&OUT_UNITS='AU-D' JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System Jet Propulsion Laboratory 26 March 2025 Solution using the Solar System Barycenter. Ephemeris Type: Elements and Center: @0) JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris for 119951 (2002 KX14) at epochs JD 2450000.5–2460000.5 https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons_batch.cgi?batch=1&COMMAND='119951'&TABLE_TYPE='ELEMENTS'&START_TIME='JD2450000.5'&STOP_TIME='JD2470000.5'&STEP_SIZE='200d'&CENTER='500@10'&OUT_UNITS='AU-D' JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System Jet Propulsion Laboratory 26 March 2025 Solution using the Sun. Ephemeris Type: Elements and Center: @sun) JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris for 119951 (2002 KX14) from 1840-Jul-01 to 1840-Jul-30 https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/api/horizons.api?format=text&COMMAND=%27119951%27&OBJ_DATA=%27YES%27&MAKE_EPHEM=%27YES%27&EPHEM_TYPE=%27OBSERVER%27&CENTER=%27@sun%27&START_TIME=%271840-07-01%27&STOP_TIME=%271840-07-30%27&STEP_SIZE=%271d%27&QUANTITIES=%2720%27 JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System Jet Propulsion Laboratory 26 March 2025 (Perihelion occurs when deldot changes from negative to positive. Uncertainty in time of perihelion is 1-sigma from JPL Small-Body Database.) JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris for 119951 (2002 KX14) from 2085-May-15 to 2085-Jun-15 https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/api/horizons.api?format=text&COMMAND=%27119951%27&OBJ_DATA=%27YES%27&MAKE_EPHEM=%27YES%27&EPHEM_TYPE=%27OBSERVER%27&CENTER=%27@sun%27&START_TIME=%272085-05-15%27&STOP_TIME=%272085-06-15%27&STEP_SIZE=%271d%27&QUANTITIES=%2720%27 JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System Jet Propulsion Laboratory 26 March 2025 (Perihelion occurs when deldot changes from negative to positive. Uncertainty in time of perihelion is 1-sigma from JPL Small-Body Database.) (119951) = 2002 KX14 https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=119951 Minor Planet Center 26 March 2025 C. A. Trujillo A. B. Jordan M. E. Brown E. F. Helin S. Pravdo K. Lawrence M. Hicks MPEC 2002-O29 : 2002 JR146, 2002 KW14, 2002 KX14, 2002 KY14 https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/mpec/K02/K02O29.html Minor Planet Electronic Circular Minor Planet Center 20 July 2002 2002-O29 26 March 2025 etal G. J. Garradd R. H. McNaught R. L. Millis M. W. Buie L. H. Wasserman S. D. Kern MPEC 2003-H13 : 2002 KX14 https://minorplanetcenter.net/mpec/K03/K03H13.html Minor Planet Electronic Circular Minor Planet Center 23 April 2003 2003-H13 26 March 2025 2003MPEC....H...13G M.P.C. 55541 https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/2005/MPC_20051116.pdf#page=71 Minor Planet Circulars Minor Planet Center 55541 71 16 November 2005 26 March 2025 Rules and Guidelines for Naming Non-Cometary Small Solar-System Bodies https://www.wgsbn-iau.org/documentation/NamesAndCitations.pdf IAU Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature 22 February 2025 26 February 2025 Orbit Fit and Astrometric record for 119951 http://www.boulder.swri.edu/~buie/kbo/astrom/119951.html Marc W. Buie Southwest Research Institute 26 March 2025 live https://web.archive.org/web/20220816194141/http://www.boulder.swri.edu/~buie/kbo/astrom/119951.html 16 August 2022 (307261) 2002MS4 Ephemerides https://newton.spacedys.com/astdys/index.php?pc=1.1.3.0&n=307261 Asteroids Dynamic Site Department of Mathematics, University of Pisa, Italy 26 March 2025 C. A. Trujillo M. E. Brown The Caltech Wide Area Sky Survey https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1023/B:MOON.0000031929.19729.a1?shared_access_token=bgfhf2Sq3-c-eiG985Pm_IspNOxuUNtyllpwxVxrbfBIblUlrGXFME5iw69vhaP59U4JrsXxO8WTPBcb5EFv6YjWxKeZY1EFUa0pkdSTgZUYMe-nisnFfSg2SbNiSisJlpxPbzc-gf9XwWJI4575ZT01hsDTR9qcJsr8V59z7ebAb1q1nkOl76HLGatSVny2 Earth, Moon, and Planets June 2003 92 1 99–112 10.1023/B:MOON.0000031929.19729.a1 2003EM&P...92...99T 189905639 subscription K. M. Barkume M. E. Brown E. L. 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Santos-Sanz The Trans-Neptunian Object (119951) 2002 KX14 as revealed by multiple stellar occultations Astronomy & Astrophysics May 2025 697 A62 free 10.1051/0004-6361/202554154 2503.19179 2025A&A...697A..62R 277313950 Icy planetoids of the outer solar system https://archive.stsci.edu/proposal_search.php?id=10545&mission=hst Michael Brown Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes Space Telescope Science Institute July 2005 HST Proposal 10545 Cycle 14 2005hst..prop10545B 2026-05-23 J. M. Gómez-Limón R. Leiva Probing close-in satellites of Trans-Neptunian Objects through thermal and direct size measurements 2026-05-21 2605.22296 astro-ph.EP J. L. Ortiz P. Santos-Sanz M. Kretlow Y. Kilic J. L. Rizos A. Álvarez-Candal T. G. Müller External links (119951) 2002 KX14 Precovery Images (Archived) Stellar Occultation by (119951) 2002 KX14 on April 26, 2012 119951 119951 (119951) 2002 KX 14 119951 Category:Discoveries by Michael E. Brown Category:Discoveries by Chad Trujillo Category:Objects observed by stellar occultation 20020517