[SunkenCiv]

Read some background at Mike Brown's Caltech homepage, and very damned little at the homepage of 2009 YE7's discoverer's David L. Rabinowitz.

[SunkenCiv]

Chunk of the wiki-wacky-pedia entry:

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2009 YE₇

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	David Rabinowitz
Discovery date	December 17, 2009(?)
Designations
MPC designation	2009 YE7
Minor planet category	TNO Cubewano[2] Haumea family?[3]
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch December 15, 2009 (2455180.5)
Aphelion	51.1 AU (Q)
Perihelion	35.9 AU (q)
Semi-major axis	43.5 AU (a)
Eccentricity	0.17
Orbital period	287 yr
Mean anomaly	180° (M)
Inclination	29.2°
Longitude of ascending node	138°
Argument of perihelion	96°
Satellites	?
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	440[4]-945[5] km[2][6]
Albedo	assume 0.7 to 0.15
Apparent magnitude	~20(?)(JPL Horizons)
Absolute magnitude (H)	2.8[2]

2009 YE₇ is a trans-Neptunian object with an absolute magnitude of 2.8.^[2] This qualifies it as a dwarf planet candidate. It was discovered by David Rabinowitz on December 17, 2009 at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. 2009 YE₇ is the first bright KBO found from the southern hemisphere.

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[SunkenCiv]

• JPL Small-Body Database Browser -- 2009 YE7

this is also a potential catastrophism topic, but I'm going to bed.

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[SunkenCiv]

Oddly enough, my search for ANY news item on this discovery came up with this slightly earlier, quite boring discovery of the smallest KBO ever spotted:

Real Occult Science: Hubble Spots Smallest Comet Vagabond by Ray Villard, Wed Dec 16, 2009 02:47 PM ET

[SuziQ]

Astronomy ping!