| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | PMO NEO Survey Program |
| Discovery site | Purple Mountain Obs. |
| Discovery date | 6 February 2008 |
| Designations | |
| 2009 FW54 | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 1 | |
| Observation arc | 14.72 yr (5,375 d) |
| Aphelion | 3192 AU 2049 AU (barycentric) |
| Perihelion | 14.5 AU |
| 1603.44 AU 1032 AU (barycentric) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.9909 |
| 64207 yr 33100 yr (barycentric) | |
| 0.0453° | |
| 0° 0m 0s / day | |
| Inclination | 77.986° |
| 341.48° | |
| ≈ 16 March 2011 | |
| 195.57° | |
| Jupiter MOID | 9.311 AU |
| Saturn MOID | 5.45 AU |
| Uranus MOID | 3.32 AU |
| TJupiter | 0.9860 |
| Physical characteristics | |
| |
| |
| 19.9 | |
| 7.1 | |
(668643) 2012 DR30 is a trans-Neptunian object and centaur with an extremely eccentric orbit that brings it from the inner Oort cloud, the outermost region of the Solar System. It was discovered on 6 February 2008 by astronomers at Purple Mountain Observatory in Nanking, China. It measures approximately 188 kilometers (120 miles) in diameter.
Using an epoch of February 2017, it has the second-largest heliocentric semi-major axis of a minor planet not detected outgassing like a comet. (2014 FE72 has a larger heliocentric semi-major axis.) 2012 DR30 does have a barycentric semi-major axis of 1032 AU. For the epoch of July 2018 2012 DR30 will have its largest heliocentric semi-major axis of 1644 AU.
| Orbital evolution | ||
| Year (epoch) | Barycentric Aphelion (Q) (AU) | Orbital period years |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 2000 | 32000 |
| 2050 | 2049 | 33100 |
2012 DR30 passed 5.7 AU from Saturn in February 2009 and came to perihelion in March 2011 at a distance of 14.5 AU from the Sun (inside the orbit of Uranus). In 2018, it will move from 18.2 AU to 19.1 AU from the Sun. It comes to opposition in late March. With an absolute magnitude (H) of 7.1, the object has a published diameter of 185 and 188 kilometers, respectively.
With an observation arc of 14.7 years, it has a well constrained orbit. It will not be 50 AU from the Sun until 2047. After leaving the planetary region of the Solar System, 2012 DR30 will have a barycentric aphelion of 2049 AU with an orbital period of 33100 years. In a 10 million year integration of the orbit, the nominal (best-fit) orbit and both 3-sigma clones remain outside 12.2 AU (qmin) from the Sun. Summary of barycentric orbital parameters are:
