(434620) 2005 VD

Highly-inclined centaur November 2018 yes (434620) 2005 VD #C7FF8F Mount Lemmon Srvy. Mount Lemmon Obs. 1 November 2005 (434620) 2005 VD centaurdamocloidunusualdistant 27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5) 2 11.40 yr (4,163 d) 8.3535 AU 4.9956 AU 6.6746 AU 0.2515 17.24 yr (6,298 d) 275.05° 0.0572 ms / day 172.87° 173.31° 177.92° 0.0306 AU -1.3960 6 km 0.04 (assumed dark)0.09 (assumed) B–R 1.05 14.3 (434620) 2005 VD is a centaur and damocloid on a retrograde orbit from the outer Solar System, known for having the second most highly inclined orbit of any small Solar System body, behind 2013 LA 2. 2005 VD was the most highly inclined known object between 2005 and 2013. The unusual object measures approximately 6 km mi off 2 us in diameter. Discovery This minor planet was discovered on 1 November 2005, by astronomers of the Mount Lemmon Survey at Mount Lemmon Observatory near Tucson, Arizona. Precovery images have been found by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) from September 2005 and December 2001. Orbit Classification thumb|left|2005 VD has a semi-major axis greater than Jupiter and almost crosses the orbit of Jupiter when near perihelion. 2005 VD has a semi-major axis greater than Jupiter and almost crosses the orbit of Jupiter when near perihelion. JPL lists it as a current centaur. Both the Deep Ecliptic Survey (DES), and the Minor Planet Center (MPC) have listed it as a centaur (qmin=~5AU) at different epochs. The DES and MPC will list it as a centaur again in 2032. Lowell Observatory also has it listed as a damocloid object. 2005 VD makes occasional close approaches to Jupiter, coming only 0.0817 AU e6km unit from Jupiter in 1903, 0.0445 AU e6km unit in 2057, and 0.077 AU e6km unit in 2093. However it made a close approach to Jupiter when it was only 0.309 AU e6km unit away from it on 17 December 2022 which was the closest it could get to Jupiter for the decade. Dynamics Being a highly dynamic object, even among centaurs, 2005 VD's orbit has visibly changed even since its discovery. Between 1600 and 2400, its semimajor axis will slowly increase from 6.64 to 6.96 AU, its eccentricity slowly increasing from 0.27 to 0.34, and a decreasing inclination from 176.7° to 169.9°. As such, until about 1870, 2005 VD was the most highly inclined known asteroid in the Solar System. References 2022-11-19 last obs. JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 434620 (2005 VD) https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=2434620&view=OPC Jet Propulsion Laboratory 26 July 2023 434620 (2005 VD) Minor Planet Center https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=434620 17 January 2018 List Of Other Unusual Objects Minor Planet Center 14 November 2018 https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/t_others.html 20 November 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 Marc W. Buie Marc W. Buie 2006-08-28 Orbit Fit and Astrometric record for 05VD SwRI (Space Science Department) http://www.boulder.swri.edu/~buie/kbo/astrom/05VD.html 10 October 2008 dead https://archive.today/20121212092526/http://www.boulder.swri.edu/~buie/kbo/astrom/05VD.html 12 December 2012 2009-05-02 Table of Damocloid objects, or Oort cloud asteroids Lowell Observatory Akimasa Nakamura http://ftp.lowell.edu/pub/bas/damocloid 16 January 2018 List Of Centaurs and Scattered-Disk Objects Minor Planet Center https://minorplanetcenter.net//iau/lists/Centaurs.html 16 January 2018 External links (434620) 2005 VD, Small Bodies Data Ferret 434620 434620 434620 Category:Centaurs (small Solar System bodies) Category:Damocloids Category:Unusual minor planets Category:Discoveries by MLS 20051101 Category:Minor planets with a retrograde orbit