As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
The newly-discovered moon has actually an approximated size of 38 km (23.6 miles) and a V magnitude of 28, most likely making it the faintest satellite ever discovered around a trans-Neptunian things.
This picture of Quaoar and its moon Weywot was recorded by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope on February 14, 2006. Image credit: NASA/ ESA/ Hubble/ Michael E. Brown.
Found on June 4, 2002, Quaoar is a trans-Neptunian things about 1,100 km (690 miles )in size.
Like the dwarf world Pluto, this item dwells in the Kuiper Belt, an icy particles field of comet-like bodies.
Understood as 2002 LM60, it orbits at 45.1-45.6 huge systems (AU) from the Sun and has an orbital duration of 284.5 years.
In 2006, astronomers found Quaoar’s satellite, Weywot, that has a size of 80 km (50 miles) and orbits at 24 Quaoar radii.
More just recently, they discovered 2 rings around Quaoar, called Q1R and Q2R.
“In the previous years, outstanding occultations have actually exposed the existence of rings around little bodies,” stated Florida Space Institute astronomer Benjamin Proudfoot and his coworkers.
“Among these little body ring systems, the rings around Quaoar are maybe the most mystical.”
“The 2 rings so-far found are well-outside the Roche limitation and are inhomogeneous.”
“Quaoar’s external ring– called Q1R– seems a minimum of partly restricted by mean movement resonances with Quaoar’s moon Weywot, along with spin-orbit resonances with Quaoar’s triaxial shape.”
“The inner ring– Q2R– is apparently less thick and its confinement is more unpredictable.”
“Recently, throughout an outstanding occultation, synchronised dropouts from 2 telescopes exposed the existence of a formerly undiscovered satellite or thick ring around Quaoar.”
“The period of the dropout suggested a minimum diameter/width of 30 km.”
An artist’s impression of Quaoar and its 2 rings. Quaoar’s moon Weywot is revealed on the. Image credit: ESA/ Sci.News.
In their brand-new research study, the astronomers intended to identify the orbit of this brand-new satellite prospect.
They discovered that the things is most likely on a 3.6-day orbit, positioning it near a 5:3 mean movement resonance with Quaoar’s outer recognized ring.
They likewise analyzed the possibility of observing the satellite with additional outstanding occultations.
“Quaoar is positively positioned in the Scutum Star Cloud for another 10 years, supplying the very best chances for occultations throughout its 286 year orbit,” they stated.
“Current ground- and space-based telescopes will have a hard time to spot the newly-discovered satellite due to both its faintness (9-10 mag fainter than Quaoar) and little angular separation from Quaoar.”
“Our evaluation of the Webb/NIRCam pictures of the Quaoar system reveal no engaging detection of the satellite,” they kept in mind.
“Direct imaging with present centers will need substantial financial investment of telescope time to blindly reacquire the stage of the satellite, if it is certainly noticeable.”
“Future generation telescopes, nevertheless, will likely have the ability to quickly observe it.”
According to the group, the discovery of the brand-new satellite offers proof that Quaoar’s rings around might have belonged to an at first broad collisional disk that has actually developed significantly because its development.
“Examining the development and history of the moon-disk system will supply a comprehensive view into the development of trans-Neptunian things,” the scientists stated.
“We motivate advanced tidal, hydrodynamical, and collisional modeling of the Quaoar system.”
The group’s paper has actually been sent for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters
_____
Benjamin Proudfoot et al2025. Orbital characterization of a freshly found little satellite around Quaoar. ApJLin press; arXiv: 2511.07370
Find out more
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
