2012 VP113

Sednoid December 2019 yes 2012 VP 113 possible dwarf planet 2012 VP113 CFHT 2021-10-09 annotated crop.gif 2012 VP 113 imaged by the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope on 9 October 2021 Scott S. Sheppard Chadwick A. Trujillo Cerro Tololo Obs. 5 November 2012 2012 VP 113 "Biden" (nickname) TNO sednoid 5 May 2025(JD 2460800.5) 3 6187 d years flip in 19 September 2007 yes 444.1 AU 80.52 AU ≈ September 1979 262.3 AU 0.6931 4,246 yr 24.05° 0.0002321 ms / day 24.0563 .006 ° 90.80° 293.90° 0 450 km (for an assumed albedo of 0.15) 7.047196 19 kilogram (est.) moderately red B−R 1.44 0.05 V−R 0.52 0.04 R−I 0.53 0.04 r-i 0.188 0.072Éphémérides - Formulaires SE-OP https://ssp.imcce.fr/forms/ssocard 2026-09-08 ssp.imcce.fr r-z 0.223 0.144 i-z 0.035 0.137 23.5 4.05 2012 VP 113 is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) orbiting the Sun on an extremely distant and markedly elliptical orbit. It is classified as a sednoid because its orbit never comes closer than 80.5 AU e9km e9mi in unit from the Sun, which is far enough away from the giant planets that their gravitational influence cannot affect the object's orbit noticeably. It was discovered on 5 November 2012 at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, by American astronomers Scott Sheppard and Chad Trujillo, who nicknamed the object "Biden" after the "VP" in its designation. The discovery was announced on 26 March 2014. The object's size has not been measured, but its brightness suggests that it is around 450 km mi in diameter. 2012 VP 113 has a reddish color similar to many other TNOs. 2012 VP 113 has not yet been imaged by high-resolution telescopes, so it has no known moons. The Hubble Space Telescope is planned to image 2012 VP 113 in 2026, which should determine if it has significantly sized moons. History Discovery thumb|Discovery images of 2012 VP 113 taken on 5 November 2012. 2012 VP 113 was first reported to have been observed on 5 November 2012 with NOAO's 4-meter Víctor M. Blanco Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. Carnegie's 6.5-meter Magellan telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile was used to determine its orbit and surface properties. Before being announced to the public, 2012 VP 113 was only tracked by Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (807) and Las Campanas Observatory (304). 2012 VP 113 has been found in precovery images as early as September 2007. Nickname 2012 VP 113 was abbreviated "VP" and nicknamed "Biden" by the discovery team, after Joe Biden who was then the vice president ("VP") of the United States. Physical characteristics 2012 VP 113 has an absolute magnitude of 4.05, which means it may be large enough to be a dwarf planet. The diameter and geometric albedo of 2012 VP 113 has not been measured yet. Under the assumption that 2012 VP 113 has a moderate geometric albedo of 0.15 (typical of TNOs), its diameter would be around 450 km mi. A wider range of albedos gives a possible diameter range of 300–1000 km mi. It is expected to be about half the size of Sedna and similar in size to Huya. Its surface is moderately red in color, resulting from chemical changes produced by the effect of radiation on frozen water, methane, and carbon dioxide. This optical color is consistent with formation in the gas-giant region and not the classical Kuiper belt, which is dominated by ultra-red colored objects. A 2021 study by Muñoz-Gutiérrez assumed a mass of 0.0118 -3 🜨 (7.047196 19 kilogram) for 2012 VP 113. However, the true mass still remains unknown as it is not known to have a moon (which means there is currently no way to measure its mass and density). left Orbit and classification thumb|upright=1|Orbital diagrams of 2012 VP 113 with Pluto and the outer planets as of 2017 List of Solar System objects most distant from the Sun 2012 VP 113 has the farthest perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) of all known minor planets and all known objects in the Solar System 2025 y, greater than Sedna's. Though its perihelion is farther, 2012 VP 113 has an aphelion only about half of Sedna's. It is the second discovered sednoid, with a semi-major axis beyond 150 AU and a perihelion greater than 50 AU. The similarity of the orbit of 2012 VP 113 to other known extreme trans-Neptunian objects led Scott Sheppard and Chad Trujillo to suggest that an undiscovered object, Planet Nine, in the outer Solar System is shepherding these distant objects into similar type orbits. Its last perihelion was within a couple months of September 1979. The paucity of bodies with perihelia at 50 - 75 AU appears not to be an observational artifact and is known as the Kuiper cliff. 2012 VP 113 is possibly a member of a hypothesized Hills cloud. It has a perihelion, argument of perihelion, and current position in the sky similar to those of Sedna. In fact, all known Solar System bodies with semi-major axes over 150 AU and perihelia greater than Neptune's have arguments of perihelion clustered near 340 55 deg. This could indicate a similar formation mechanism for these bodies. (148209) 2000 CR 105 was the first such object to be discovered. It is currently unknown how 2012 VP 113 acquired a perihelion distance beyond the Kuiper belt. The characteristics of its orbit, like those of Sedna's, have been explained as possibly created by a passing star or a trans-Neptunian planet of several Earth masses hundreds of astronomical units from the Sun. The orbital architecture of the trans-Plutonian region may signal the presence of more than one planet. 2012 VP 113 could even be captured from another planetary system. However, it is considered more likely that the perihelion of 2012 VP 113 was raised by multiple interactions within the crowded confines of the open star cluster in which the Sun formed. Orbital stability A study by Muñoz-Gutiérrez et al. simulates the orbital stability of 34 dwarf planet candidates over 1 billon years (1 Gyr), and using nearly 100000 clones of the orbits, with 2012 VP 113 being one of them. Over the 1 Gyr they simulated, they say it has a "Stable" orbit, with its diffusion time being 20006.962 Gyr, making its orbit "Very Stable". It is also the longest diffusion time they calculated. Orbit diagrams See also List of Solar System objects most distant from the Sun 90377 Sedna – first sednoid discovered 541132 Leleākūhonua – third sednoid discovered List of hyperbolic comets List of possible dwarf planets Other large aphelion objects 668643 2012 DR 30 (15 - 2880 AU) 2005 VX 3 (4 - 1630 AU) 709487 2013 BL 76 (8 - 1870 AU) 2014 FE 72 (36 - 2680 AU) References 30em 3 December 2021 last obs. JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2012 VP113) https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=3666493 Jet Propulsion Laboratory 20 June 2022 2012 VP113 Minor Planet Center https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=2012+VP113 14 November 2018 MPEC 2014-F40 : 2012 VP113 IAU Minor Planet Center 26 March 2014 http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/mpec/K14/K14F40.html (K12VB3P) List of Known Trans-Neptunian Objects Johnston's Archive 7 October 2018 Johnston Wm. Robert http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/astro/tnoslist.html 14 November 2018 2012 VP113 – Summary AstDyS-2, Asteroids Dynamic Site https://newton.spacedys.com/astdys/index.php?pc=1.1.0&n=2012VP113 14 November 2018 Chadwick A. Trujillo Scott S. Sheppard A Sedna-like body with a perihelion of 80 astronomical units https://www.lpl.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/journal-club/Trujillo_and_Sheppard_2014.pdf Nature March 2014 507 7493 471–474 10.3847/2041-8213/ad2686 free 2310.20614 2014Natur.507..471T 24670765 4393431 live https://web.archive.org/web/20141216183818/http://home.dtm.ciw.edu/users/sheppard/pub/TrujilloSheppard2014.pdf 2014-12-16 10.1038/nature.2014.14921 Dwarf planet stretches Solar System's edge Nature 26 March 2014 Witze Alexandra 124305879 JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris for (2012 VP113) at epoch JD 2460800.5 https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons_batch.cgi?batch=1&COMMAND='2012%20VP113'&TABLE_TYPE='ELEMENTS'&START_TIME='JD2460800.5'&STOP_TIME='JD2460801.5'&STEP_SIZE='1y'&CENTER='@0'&OUT_UNITS='AU-D' JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System Jet Propulsion Laboratory 2025-07-15 Solution using the Solar System Barycenter. Ephemeris Type: Elements and Center: @0) Horizons Batch for 2012 VP113 on 1979-Sep-28 JPL Horizons Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons_batch.cgi?batch=1&COMMAND=%272012+VP113%27&START_TIME=%271979-Sep-01%27&STOP_TIME=%271979-Oct-31%27&STEP_SIZE=%276%20hours%27&QUANTITIES=%2719%27 2022-06-21 (JPL#9, Soln.date: 3 December 2021) Beyond the Edge of the Solar System: The Inner Oort Cloud Population Sheppard Scott S. Scott S. Sheppard Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution for Science http://home.dtm.ciw.edu/users/sheppard/inner_oort_cloud/ 27 March 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20140330224803/http://home.dtm.ciw.edu/users/sheppard/inner_oort_cloud/ 30 March 2014 dead Chang Kenneth A New Planetoid Reported in Far Reaches of Solar System https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/27/science/space/a-new-planetoid-reported-in-far-reaches-of-solar-system.html 26 March 2014 The New York Times NASA Supported Research Helps Redefine Solar System's Edge NASA http://www.nasa.gov/content/nasa-supported-research-helps-redefine-solar-systems-edge/ 26 March 2014 26 March 2014 6 May 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210506120341/https://www.nasa.gov/content/nasa-supported-research-helps-redefine-solar-systems-edge/ dead Wall Mike New Dwarf Planet Found at Solar System's Edge, Hints at Possible Faraway 'Planet X' Space.com web site TechMediaNetwork 26 March 2014 http://www.space.com/25218-dwarf-planet-discovery-solar-system-edge.html 27 March 2014 Lakdawalla Emily Emily Lakdawalla A second Sedna! What does it mean? Planetary Society blogs The Planetary Society 26 March 2014 http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2014/03261345-a-second-sedna-what-does-it-mean.html https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/mar/26/dwarf-planet-super-earth-solar-system-2012-vp113 Dwarf planet discovery hints at a hidden Super Earth in solar system Sample Ian The Guardian 26 March 2014 http://phys.org/news/2014-03-edge-solar.html A new object at the edge of our Solar System discovered Physorg.com 26 March 2014 A Search For The Moons of Mid-Sized TNOs https://www.stsci.edu/hst-program-info/download/hst/pdf/18010/ Benjamin Proudfoot Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes Space Telescope Science Institute August 2025 HST Proposal 18010 2025hst..prop18010P Cycle 33 2025-08-17 Extreme trans-Neptunian objects and the Kozai mechanism: signalling the presence of trans-Plutonian planets Carlos de la Fuente Marcos de la Fuente Marcos Raúl 1 September 2014 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters 443 1 L59–L63 1406.0715 2014MNRAS.443L..59D 10.1093/mnrasl/slu084 free Flipping minor bodies: what comet 96P/Machholz 1 can tell us about the orbital evolution of extreme trans-Neptunian objects and the production of near-Earth objects on retrograde orbits Carlos de la Fuente Marcos de la Fuente Marcos Raúl S. J. Aarseth 11 January 2015 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 446 2 1867–1873 1410.6307 2015MNRAS.446.1867D 10.1093/mnras/stu2230 free Marco A. Muñoz-Gutiérrez Antoni Peimbert Matthew J. Lehner Shiang-Yu Wang Long-term Dynamical Stability in the Outer Solar System. I. The Regular and Chaotic Evolution of the 34 Largest Trans-Neptunian Objects The Astronomical Journal October 2021 162 4 164 free 10.3847/1538-3881/ac1102 2107.00240 2021AJ....162..164M 235694711 etal W. M. Grundy W. B. McKinnon E. Ammannito M. Aung J. Bellerose F. Brenker Exploration Strategy for the Ice Dwarf Planets 2013-2022 https://www.lpi.usra.edu/decadal/sbag/community_wp/SB_Community_WP_Final_Dwarfs.pdf American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2009 December 2009 P43D-1471 2009AGUFM.P43D1471G dead https://web.archive.org/web/20250330030249/https://www.lpi.usra.edu/decadal/sbag/community_wp/SB_Community_WP_Final_Dwarfs.pdf 2025-03-30 External links 2012 VP113 Inner Oort Cloud Object Discovery Images from Scott S. Sheppard/Carnegie Institution for Science. 2012 VP113 has Q=460 ± 30 https://web.archive.org/web/20160328123006/https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/mpml/conversations/messages/29845 28 March 2016 (mpml: CFHT 2011-Oct-22 precovery) List of Known Trans-Neptunian Objects, Johnston's Archive List Of Centaurs and Scattered-Disk Objects, Minor Planet Center Category:Sednoids # Category:Minor planet object articles (unnumbered) # # # Category:2014 in outer space 20121105 Category:Joe Biden Category:Inner Oort cloud