225088 Gonggong

Gonggong and its moon Xiangliu (red circle) seen by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2010

225088 Gonggong (symbol ) is a dwarf planet of the Solar System . It is a member of the scattered disc . It has a highly eccentric orbit. It is from 34?101 astronomical units (5.1?15.1 billion kilometers; 3.2?9.4 billion miles) from the Sun . It is the sixth-farthest known Solar System object. Gonggong was discovered in July 2007 by American astronomers Megan Schwamb, Michael Brown, and David Rabinowitz at the Palomar Observatory , and the discovery was announced in January 2009.

Physical characteristics [ change | change source ]

The surface of Gonggong has an albedo of 0.14. ^[1] Gonggong is among the reddest trans-Neptunian objects known. ^[2] Its red color is suprising because it has a lot of water ice on its surface, which are usually neutral in color. Scientists think that there might be methane on its surface which will explain its red color. ^[3]

Gonggong is estimated to have a diameter of 1,230 km (760 mi). This would make Gonggong the fifth-largest trans-Neptunian object, after Pluto , Eris , Haumea and Makemake . Gonggong is approximately the size of Pluto's moon Charon . ^[1]

The mass of Gonggong has been calculated to be 1.75×10 ²¹ kg (3.86×10 ²¹ lb). It has a density of 1.72±0.16 g/cm ³.

Orbit [ change | change source ]

Gonggong orbits the Sun at an average distance of 67.5 AU (1.010×10 ¹⁰ km; 6.27×10 ⁹ mi). It completes a full orbit in 554 years. ^[4] It has an orbital inclination 30.7 degrees. Its eccentricity is 0.50. ^[4]

Gonggong is moving away at a speed of 1.1 kilometers per second (2,500 miles per hour). It is the sixth-farthest known Solar System object from the Sun. ^[5]

Exploration [ change | change source ]

It was calculated by planetary scientist Amanda Zangari that a flyby mission to Gonggong would take a minimum of over 20 years with the rocket we have today. ^[6] A flyby mission would be launched on 2030 or 2031. ^[6]

Moons [ change | change source ]

Gonggong is known to have a moon, called Xiangliu . The discovery team thought that the slow rotation of Gonggong was caused by a moon

References [ change | change source ]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Kiss, Csaba; Marton, Gabor; Parker, Alex H.; Grundy, Will M.; Farkas-Takacs, Aniko; Stansberry, John; Pal, Andras; Muller, Thomas; Noll, Keith S. (2019). "The mass and density of the dwarf planet (225088) 2007 OR10" . Icarus . 334 : 3?10. arXiv : 1903.05439 . Bibcode : 2019Icar..334....3K . doi : 10.1016/j.icarus.2019.03.013 . S2CID 119370310 .
↑ Brown, M. E.; Burgasser, A. J.; Fraser, W. C. (2011-09-10). "The Surface Composition of Large Kuiper Belt Object 2007 Or10" . The Astrophysical Journal . 738 (2): L26. arXiv : 1108.1418 . Bibcode : 2011ApJ...738L..26B . doi : 10.1088/2041-8205/738/2/L26 . hdl : 1721.1/95722 . ISSN 2041-8205 . S2CID 9730804 .
↑ "Astronomers find ice and possibly methane on Snow White, a distant dwarf planet" . ScienceDaily . Retrieved 2020-12-05 .
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser" . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov . Retrieved 2020-12-05 .
↑ "HORIZONS Web-Interface" . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov . Retrieved 2020-12-05 .
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 Zangari, Amanda M.; Finley, Tiffany J.; Alan Stern, S.; Tapley, Mark B. (2019). "Return to the Kuiper Belt: Launch Opportunities from 2025 to 2040" . Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets . 56 (3): 919?930. arXiv : 1810.07811 . Bibcode : 2019JSpRo..56..919Z . doi : 10.2514/1.A34329 . ISSN 0022-4650 . S2CID 119033012 .

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[:0-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Kiss, Csaba; Marton, Gabor; Parker, Alex H.; Grundy, Will M.; Farkas-Takacs, Aniko; Stansberry, John; Pal, Andras; Muller, Thomas; Noll, Keith S. (2019). "The mass and density of the dwarf planet (225088) 2007 OR10" . Icarus . 334 : 3?10. arXiv : 1903.05439 . Bibcode : 2019Icar..334....3K . doi : 10.1016/j.icarus.2019.03.013 . S2CID 119370310 .

[2] Brown, M. E.; Burgasser, A. J.; Fraser, W. C. (2011-09-10). "The Surface Composition of Large Kuiper Belt Object 2007 Or10" . The Astrophysical Journal . 738 (2): L26. arXiv : 1108.1418 . Bibcode : 2011ApJ...738L..26B . doi : 10.1088/2041-8205/738/2/L26 . hdl : 1721.1/95722 . ISSN 2041-8205 . S2CID 9730804 .

[3] "Astronomers find ice and possibly methane on Snow White, a distant dwarf planet" . ScienceDaily . Retrieved 2020-12-05 .

[:1-4] 4.0 ^4.1 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser" . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov . Retrieved 2020-12-05 .

[5] "HORIZONS Web-Interface" . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov . Retrieved 2020-12-05 .

[:2-6] 6.0 ^6.1 Zangari, Amanda M.; Finley, Tiffany J.; Alan Stern, S.; Tapley, Mark B. (2019). "Return to the Kuiper Belt: Launch Opportunities from 2025 to 2040" . Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets . 56 (3): 919?930. arXiv : 1810.07811 . Bibcode : 2019JSpRo..56..919Z . doi : 10.2514/1.A34329 . ISSN 0022-4650 . S2CID 119033012 .

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