2010 BK118

2010 BK₁₁₈

Discovery[1][2]
Discovered by	WISE LINEAR (704)
Discovery date	January 2010 (WISE) 19 September 2010 (LINEAR)
Designations
MPC designation	2010 BK118
Minor planet category	Centaur[3]
Orbital characteristics[4]
Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5)
Uncertainty parameter 1
Observation arc	1319 days (3.61 yr)
Aphelion	792 AU (barycentric 2050)[lower-alpha 1] 963 AU (Q)
Perihelion	6.1000 AU (912.55 Gm) (q)
Semi-major axis	399 AU (barycentric 2050)[lower-alpha 1] 484.5 AU (a)
Eccentricity	0.98741 (e)
Orbital period	8000 yr (barycentric) 10665 yr (heliocentric)
Mean anomaly	0.12498° (M)
Inclination	143.913° (i)
Longitude of ascending node	176.01° (Ω)
Argument of perihelion	179.06° (ω)
Earth MOID	5.09422 AU (762.084 Gm)
Jupiter MOID	1.13298 AU (169.491 Gm)
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	20–50 km[5] 60 km (if albedo=0.04)[1]
Apparent magnitude	21[6]
Absolute magnitude (H)	10.2[4]

2010 BK₁₁₈ (also written 2010 BK118) is a centaur roughly 20–60 km in diameter. It is on a retrograde cometary orbit. It has a barycentric semi-major axis (average distance from the Sun) of ~400 AU.^{[lower-alpha 1]}

2010 BK₁₁₈ came to perihelion in April 2012 at a distance of 6.1 AU from the Sun (outside the orbit of Jupiter).^[4] It has a Jupiter-MOID of 1.1 AU.^[4] As of 2016, it is 11 AU from the Sun.^[6]

It will not be 50 AU from the Sun until 2043. After leaving the planetary region of the Solar System, 2010 BK₁₁₈ will have a barycentric aphelion of 791 AU with an orbital period of 8000 years.

Orbital evolution
Epoch	Barycentric Aphelion (Q) (AU)	Orbital period yr
1950	746	7300
2050	792	8000

Notes

1. Given the orbital eccentricity of this object, different epochs can generate quite different heliocentric unperturbed two-body best-fit solutions to the semi-major axis and orbital period. For objects at such high eccentricity, the Sun's barycentric coordinates are more stable than heliocentric coordinates. Using JPL Horizons, the barycentric semi-major axis is approximately 399 AU.^[7]

References

1. Carl Hergenrother. "Recent Discoveries – Sept 17-24, 2010". The Transient Sky. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
2. "MPEC 2010-S36 : 2010 BK118". IAU Minor Planet Center. 2010-09-22. Retrieved 2016-02-04. (K10BB8K)
3. Marc W. Buie. "Orbit Fit and Astrometric record for 10BK118". SwRI (Space Science Department). Retrieved 2016-02-04.
4. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2010 BK118)" (last observation: 2013-09-10; arc: 3.61 yr). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
5. "Absolute Magnitude (H)". NASA/JPL. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
6. "AstDyS 2010BK118 Ephemerides". Department of Mathematics, University of Pisa, Italy. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
7. Horizons output. "Barycentric Osculating Orbital Elements for 2010 BK118". Retrieved 2016-02-04. (Solution using the Solar System Barycenter and barycentric coordinates. Select Ephemeris Type:Elements and Center:@0)

External links

• Orbital simulation from JPL (Java) / Ephemeris
• 2010 BK118 at the JPL Small-Body Database

• Discovery · Orbit diagram · Orbital elements · Physical parameters