Orcus (dwarf planet)

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Good article {{#invoke:infobox|infoboxTemplate | class = vcard | titleclass = fn org | title = 90482 Orcus | image = {{#invoke:InfoboxImage|InfoboxImage|image=Orcus-Vanth orbit.gif|upright={{#if:||1.1}}|alt=}} | caption = Orcus and its moon Vanth imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2006 | headerstyle = {{#if:#C2E0FF|background-color:#C2E0FF|background-color:#E0CCFF}} | labelstyle = max-width:{{#if:||11em}}; | autoheaders = y

| header1 = Discovery<ref name="jpldata" /><ref name="MPC-Orcus" />

| header10 = {{#if:|Designations|Designations}}

| label11 = Template:Longitem | data11 = (90482) Orcus | label12 = Pronunciation | data12 = Template:IPAc-en<ref>Template:Dict.com</ref> | label13 = Template:Longitem | data13 = Orcus<ref name="springer" /> | label14 = Template:Longitem | data14 = 2004 DW | label15 = Template:Longitem | data15 = Template:Hlist | label16 = Adjectives | data16 = Orcinian Template:IPAc-en (trad.),<ref>Jeremias Drexel (1641) A Right Intention, page 161; The Freemason's Chronicle, volume 33, page 214, 1891</ref> Orcean Template:IPAc-en (trad.)<ref>Angley (1847) De Clifford, the philosopher</ref> | label17 = Symbol | data17 = 🝿

| header20 = Orbital characteristics{{#ifeq:|yes| (barycentric)}}<ref name="jpldata" />

| data21 = | data22 = {{#if:31 May 2020 (JD 2459000.5) |Epoch 31 May 2020 (JD 2459000.5)}} | data23 = {{#if:2 | Uncertainty parameter 2}} | label24 = Observation arc | data24 = 68.16 yr (24,894 days) | label25 = Earliest precovery date | data25 = 8 November 1951 | label26 = {{#switch:{{{apsis}}} |apsis|gee|barion|center|centre|(apsis)=Apo{{{apsis}}} |Ap{{#if:|{{{apsis}}}|helion}}}} | data26 = Template:Convert | label27 = Peri{{#if:|{{{apsis}}}|helion}} | data27 = Template:Convert | label28 = Peri{{#if:|{{{apsis}}}|apsis}} | data28 = | label29 = {{#switch:{{{apsis}}} |helion|astron=Ap{{{apsis}}} |Apo{{#if:|{{{apsis}}}|apsis}}}} | data29 = | label30 = Periastron | data30 = | label31 = Apoastron | data31 = | label32 = Template:Longitem | data32 = Template:Convert | label33 = Template:Longitem | data33 = | label34 = Eccentricity | data34 = 0.22701 | label35 = Template:Longitem | data35 = 245.19 yr (89,557 days) | label36 = Template:Longitem | data36 = | label37 = Template:Longitem | data37 = | label38 = Template:Longitem | data38 = 181.735° | label39 = Template:Longitem | data39 = Template:Deg2DMS / day | label40 = Inclination | data40 = 20.592° | label41 = Template:Longitem | data41 = | label42 = Template:Longitem | data42 = 268.799° | label43 = Template:Longitem | data43 = | label44 = Template:Longitem | data44 = ≈ 10 January 2143<ref name="Horizons2143"/>
±1 day | label45 = Template:Longitem | data45 = 72.310° | label46 = Template:Nowrap | data46 = | label47 = Satellite of | data47 = | label48 = Group | data48 = | label49 = {{#switch: |yes|true=Satellites |Known satellites}} | data49 = 1 (Vanth) | label50 = Star | data50 = | label51 = Earth MOID | data51 = | label52 = Mercury MOID | data52 = | label53 = Venus MOID | data53 = | label54 = Mars MOID | data54 = | label55 = Jupiter MOID | data55 = | label56 = Saturn MOID | data56 = | label57 = Uranus MOID | data57 = | label58 = Neptune MOID | data58 = | label59 = T_Jupiter | data59 =

| header60 = Proper orbital elements

| label61 = Template:Longitem | data61 = {{#if: |{{{p_semimajor}}} AU}} | label62 = Template:Longitem | data62 = | label63 = Template:Longitem | data63 = | label64 = Template:Longitem | data64 = {{#if: |{{{p_mean_motion}}} deg Template:\yr}} | label65 = Template:Longitem | data65 = {{#if:|{{#expr:360/1 round 5}} yr
({{#expr:365.25*360/1 round 3}} d) }} | label66 = Template:Longitem | data66 = {{#if:|{{{perihelion_rate}}} arcsec Template:\yr }} | label67 = Template:Longitem | data67 = {{#if:|{{{node_rate}}} arcsec Template:\yr}}

| header70 = Template:Anchor{{#if:yes| Physical characteristics|Physical characteristics}}

| label71 = Dimensions | data71 = Template:Val<ref name="brown2018"/> Template:Val<ref name=TNOsCool8 /> | label72 = Template:Longitem | data72 = | label73 = Template:Longitem | data73 = | label74 = Template:Longitem | data74 = | label75 = Template:Longitem | data75 = | label76 = Flattening | data76 = | label77 = Circumference | data77 = | label78 = Template:Longitem | data78 = | label79 = Volume | data79 = | label80 = Mass | data80 = Template:Val (Orcus and Vanth combined)<ref name="Grundy-orbits"/>
Template:Val (Orcus only)Template:Efn | label81 = Template:Longitem | data81 = Template:Val<ref name="Brown2023"/> | label82 = Template:Longitem | data82 = ≈ Template:Gr m/s² | label83 = Template:Longitem | data83 = | label84 = Template:Longitem | data84 = ≈ Template:V2 km/s | label85 = Template:Longitem | data85 = | label86 = Template:Longitem | data86 = | label87 = Template:Longitem | data87 = | label88 = Template:Longitem | data88 = | label89 = Template:Longitem | data89 = | label90 = Template:Longitem | data90 = | label91 = Template:Longitem | data91 = | label92 = Template:Longitem | data92 = | label93 = {{#if:yes |Template:Longitem |Albedo}} | data93 = Template:Val<ref name=TNOsCool8 /> | label94 = Temperature | data94 = < 44 K<ref name="Barucci2008" />

| data100 = {{#if:|

Surface temp.	min	mean	max
{{{temp_name1}}}
{{{temp_name2}}}
{{{temp_name3}}}
{{{temp_name4}}}

}}

| header110 = Atmosphere

| below = {{#if:||Template:Reflist }}

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Orcus (minor-planet designation: 90482 Orcus) is a dwarf planet located in the Kuiper belt, with one large moon, Vanth.<ref name="Grundy-orbits"/> It has an estimated diameter of Template:Convert, comparable to the Inner Solar System dwarf planet Ceres. The surface of Orcus is relatively bright with albedo reaching 23 percent, neutral in color, and rich in water ice. The ice is predominantly in crystalline form, which may be related to past cryovolcanic activity. Other compounds like methane or ammonia may also be present on its surface. Orcus was discovered by American astronomers Michael Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David Rabinowitz on 17 February 2004.

Orcus is a plutino, a trans-Neptunian object that is locked in a 2:3 orbital resonance with the ice giant Neptune, making two revolutions around the Sun to every three of Neptune's.<ref name="Buie" /> This is much like Pluto, except that the phase of Orcus's orbit is opposite to Pluto's: Orcus is at aphelion (most recently in 2019) around when Pluto is at perihelion (most recently in 1989) and vice versa.<ref name="MPC2004-D15" /> Orcus is the second-largest known plutino, after Pluto itself. The perihelion of Orcus's orbit is around 120° from that of Pluto, while the eccentricities and inclinations are similar. Because of these similarities and contrasts, along with its large moon Vanth that can be compared to Pluto's large moon Charon, Orcus has been dubbed the "Template:Nowrap."<ref name="MBP" /> This was a major consideration in selecting its name, as the deity Orcus was the Roman/Etruscan equivalent of the Roman/Greek Pluto.<ref name="MBP" />

HistoryEdit

DiscoveryEdit

File:Orcus nasa.jpg

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Orcus was discovered on 17 February 2004, by American astronomers Michael Brown of Caltech, Chad Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory, and David Rabinowitz of Yale University. Precovery images taken by the Palomar Observatory as early as 8 November 1951 were later obtained from the Digitized Sky Survey.<ref name="MPC-Orcus" />

Name and symbolEdit

The minor planet Orcus was named after one of the Roman gods of the underworld, Orcus. While Pluto (of Greek origin) was the ruler of the underworld, Orcus (of Etruscan origin) was a punisher of the condemned. The name was published by the Minor Planet Center on 26 November 2004 (Template:Small).<ref name="MPC-Circulars-Archive" /> Under the guidelines of the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) naming conventions, objects with a similar size and orbit to that of Pluto are named after underworld deities. Accordingly, the discoverers suggested naming the object after Orcus, the Etruscan god of the underworld and punisher of broken oaths. The name was also a private reference to the homonymous Orcas Island, where Brown's wife had lived as a child and that they visit frequently.<ref name="brown16" />

On 30 March 2005, Orcus's moon, Vanth, was named after a winged female entity, Vanth, of the Etruscan underworld. She could be present at the moment of death, and frequently acted as a psychopomp, a guide of the deceased to the underworld.<ref name="Johnston90482" />

The usage of planetary symbols is no longer recommended in astronomy, so Orcus never received a symbol in the astronomical literature. A symbol Template:Angbr, used mostly among astrologers,<ref name=miller>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> is included in Unicode as U+1F77F.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The symbol was designed by Denis Moskowitz, a software engineer in Massachusetts; it is an OR monogram, designed to resemble both a skull and an orca's gape.<ref name=anderson>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> There is a rarer symbol File:Orcus anti-Pluto symbol (fixed width).svg, an inverted astrological Pluto symbol, reflecting Orcus as the anti-Pluto: it was designed by Melanie Reinhart.<ref name=miller/>

Orbit and rotationEdit

Orcus is in a 2:3 orbital resonance with Neptune, having an orbital period of 245 years,<ref name="Buie" /><ref name="jpldata"/> and is classified as a plutino.<ref name="MPC-Orcus"/> Its orbit is moderately inclined at 20.6° to the ecliptic.<ref name="jpldata"/> Orcus's orbit is similar to Pluto's (both have perihelia above the ecliptic), but is oriented differently. Although at one point its orbit approaches that of Neptune, the resonance between the two bodies means that Orcus itself is always a great distance away from Neptune (there is always an angular separation of over 60° between them). Over a 14,000-year period, Orcus stays more than 18 AU from Neptune.<ref name="MPC2004-D15" /> Because their mutual resonance with Neptune constrains Orcus and Pluto to remain in opposite phases of their otherwise very similar motions, Orcus is sometimes described as the "anti-Pluto".<ref name="MBP" /> Orcus last reached its aphelion (farthest distance from the Sun) in 2019 and will come to perihelion (closest distance to the Sun) around 10 January 2143.<ref name="Horizons2143"/> Simulations by the Deep Ecliptic Survey show that over the next 10 million years Orcus may acquire a perihelion distance (q_min) as small as 27.8 AU.<ref name="Buie" />

The rotation period of Orcus is uncertain, as different photometric surveys have produced different results. Some show low amplitude variations with periods ranging from 7 to 21 hours, whereas others show no variability.<ref name="Delsanti2010" /> The rotational axis of Orcus probably coincides with the orbital axis of its moon, Vanth. This means that Orcus is currently viewed pole-on, which could explain the near absence of any rotational modulation of its brightness.<ref name="Delsanti2010" /><ref name="Ortiz2011" /> Astronomer José Luis Ortiz and colleagues have derived a possible rotation period of about 10.5 hours, assuming that Orcus is not tidally locked with Vanth.<ref name="Ortiz2011">Template:Cite journal</ref> If, however, the primary is tidally locked with the satellite, the rotational period would coincide with the 9.7-day orbital period of Vanth.<ref name="Ortiz2011" /> Template:Multiple image

Physical characteristicsEdit

Size and magnitudeEdit

File:Orcus, Earth & Moon size comparison.png

Orcus compared to Earth and the Moon

File:Orcus-apmag19-2009Dec26-11UT.jpg

Long-exposure photograph of Orcus at visual magnitude 19.2

The absolute magnitude of Orcus is approximately 2.3.<ref name=TNOsCool8 /> The detection of Orcus by the Spitzer Space Telescope in the far infrared<ref name="Stansberry 2007" /> and by Herschel Space Telescope in submillimeter estimates its diameter at Template:Convert, with an uncertainty of Template:Convert.<ref name=TNOsCool8 /> Orcus appears to have an albedo of about 21–25%,<ref name=TNOsCool8 /> which may be typical of trans-Neptunian objects approaching the Template:Convert diameter range.<ref name="tnoalbedo" /> The magnitude and size estimates were made under the assumption that Orcus is a singular object. The presence of a relatively large satellite, Vanth, may change them considerably. The absolute magnitude of Vanth is estimated at 4.88, which means that it is about 1/11 as bright as Orcus itself.<ref name="Brown2010" /> The ALMA submillimeter measurements taken in 2016 showed that Vanth has a relatively large size of Template:Convert with an albedo of about 8 percent while Orcus's has a slightly smaller size of Template:Convert.<ref name="brown2018"/> Using a stellar occultation by Vanth in 2017, Vanth's diameter has been determined to be Template:Convert, with an uncertainty of Template:Convert.<ref name="Sickafoose2018"/>

Mass and densityEdit

Orcus and Vanth are known to constitute a binary system. The mass of the system has been estimated to be Template:Val,<ref name="Grundy-orbits"/> approximately equal to that of the Saturnian moon Tethys (Template:Val).<ref name="Jacobson2006" /> The mass of the Orcus system is about 3.8 percent that of Template:Dp, the most massive known dwarf planet (Template:Val).<ref name="Brown2010" /><ref name="Brown Schaller 2007" />

The ratio of the mass of Vanth to that of Orcus was measured astrometrically with the ALMA submillimeter telescope and is Template:Val with Vanth containing Template:Val of the total system mass. This also means that the densities of both bodies are about the same at ~Template:Val.<ref name="Brown2023"/>

Spectra and surfaceEdit

The first spectroscopic observations in 2004 showed that the visible spectrum of Orcus is flat (neutral in color) and featureless, whereas in the near-infrared there were moderately strong water absorption bands at 1.5 and 2.0 μm.<ref name="Fornasier2004" /> The neutral visible spectrum and strong water absorption bands of Orcus showed that Orcus appeared different from other trans-Neptunian objects, which typically have a red visible spectrum and often featureless infrared spectra.<ref name="Fornasier2004" /> Further infrared observations in 2004 by the European Southern Observatory and the Gemini telescope gave results consistent with mixtures of water ice and carbonaceous compounds, such as tholins.<ref name="deBergh2005" /> The water and methane ices can cover no more than 50 percent and 30 percent of the surface, respectively.<ref name="Trujillo2005" /> This means the proportion of ice on the surface is less than on Charon, but similar to that on Triton.<ref name="Trujillo2005" />

Later in 2008–2010 new infrared spectroscopic observations with a higher signal-to-noise ratio revealed additional spectral features. Among them is a deep water ice absorption band at 1.65 μm, which is evidence of the crystalline water ice on the surface of Orcus, and a new absorption band at 2.22 μm. The origin of the latter feature is not completely clear. It can be caused either by ammonia/ammonium dissolved in the water ice or by methane/ethane ices.<ref name="Barucci2008" /> The radiative transfer modeling showed that a mixture of water ice, tholins (as a darkening agent), ethane ice, and ammonium ion (NH₄⁺) provides the best match to the spectra, whereas a combination of water ice, tholins, methane ice and ammonia hydrate gives a slightly inferior result. On the other hand, a mixture of only ammonia hydrate, tholins and water ice failed to provide a satisfactory match.<ref name="Delsanti2010" /> As of 2010, the only reliably identified compounds on the surface of Orcus are crystalline water ice and, possibly, dark tholins. A firm identification of ammonia, methane, and other hydrocarbons requires a better infrared spectra.<ref name="Delsanti2010" />

Orcus sits at the threshold for trans-Neptunian objects massive enough to retain volatiles such as methane on the surface.<ref name="Delsanti2010" /> The reflectance spectrum of Orcus shows the deepest water-ice absorption bands of any Kuiper belt object that is not associated with the Haumea collisional family.<ref name="Brown2010" /> The large icy satellites of Uranus have infrared spectra quite similar to that of Orcus.<ref name="Brown2010" /> Among other trans-Neptunian objects, the large plutino Template:Mpl and Pluto's moon Charon both have similar surface spectra to Orcus,<ref name="Barucci2008" /> with flat, featureless visible spectra and moderately strong water ice absorption bands in the near-infrared.<ref name="Delsanti2010" />

CryovolcanismEdit

Crystalline water ice on the surfaces of trans-Neptunian objects should be completely amorphized by the galactic and Solar radiation in about 10 million years.<ref name="Barucci2008" /> Thus the presence of crystalline water ice, and possibly ammonia ice, may indicate that a renewal mechanism was active in the past on the surface of Orcus.<ref name="Barucci2008" /> Ammonia so far has not been detected on any trans-Neptunian object or icy satellite of the outer planets other than Miranda.<ref name="Barucci2008" /> The 1.65 μm band on Orcus is broad and deep (12%), as on Charon, Template:Dp, Template:Dp, and icy satellites of the giant planets.<ref name="Barucci2008" /> Some calculations indicate that cryovolcanism, which is considered one of the possible renewal mechanisms, may indeed be possible for trans-Neptunian objects larger than about Template:Convert.<ref name="Delsanti2010" /> Orcus may have experienced at least one such episode in the past, which turned the amorphous water ice on its surface into crystalline. The preferred type of volcanism may have been explosive aqueous volcanism driven by an explosive dissolution of methane from water–ammonia melts.<ref name="Delsanti2010" />

SatelliteEdit

File:Orcus-Vanth.gif

Orcus and Vanth imaged by Hubble in 2006

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Orcus has one known moon, Vanth (formal designation Template:Nowrap). It was discovered by Michael Brown and T.-A. Suer using discovery images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope on 13 November 2005.<ref name=IAUC8812 /> The discovery was announced in an IAU Circular notice published on 22 February 2007.<ref name=johnston90482>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A spatially resolved submillimeter imaging of Orcus–Vanth system in 2016 showed that Vanth has a relatively large size of Template:Convert, with an uncertainty of Template:Convert.<ref name="brown2018"/> That estimate for Vanth is in good agreement with the size of about Template:Convert derived from a stellar occultation in 2017.<ref name="Sickafoose2018"/> Like Charon compared to Pluto, Vanth is quite large compared to Orcus, and is one reason for characterizing Orcus as the 'anti-Pluto'.Vanth is the third-largest known dwarf-planet moon, after Charon and Dysnomia. The ratio of masses of Orcus and Vanth is uncertain, possibly anywhere from 1:33 to 1:12.<ref name="Carry2011" />