Varuna is a Minor Planet in the category Trans-Neptunian Object (TNO). It was discovered in November 2000 and is thought to have water ice on it's surface. Similarly to Haumea, it has a unique oval shape due to it's very fast rotation, which is thought to be caused by past collisions.
Rotation and Shape[]
Varuna has a rapid rotation period of approximately 6.34 hours, derived from a double-peaked solution for Varuna's rotational light curve. Varuna's rotation was first measured January 2001 by astronomer Tony Farnham using the McDonald Observatory's 2.1-meter telescope, as part of a study on the rotation and colors of distant objects. CCD photometry of Varuna's light curve in 2001 revealed that it displays large brightness variations with an amplitude of about 0.5 magnitudes.
Possible Moon[]
Main Article: Varuna I
Photometric observations of Varuna's light curve, led by Valenzuela and colleagues in 2019, indicate that a possible satellite might be orbiting Varuna at a close distance.
Gallery[]
| Dwarf Planets and Dwarf Planet Candidates | ||
|---|---|---|
| Asteroid Belt | Consensus | Ceres |
| Possible | Hygeia • Vesta | |
| Centaurs | Possible | Chariklo • Chiron • 2013 TC₁₄₆ • 2014 NW₆₅ |
| Plutinos | Consensus | Orcus • Pluto |
| Possible | Huya • Ixion • 2001 QF₂₉₈ • 2002 VR₁₂₈ • 2002 XV₉₃• 2003 AZ₈₄ • 2003 UZ₄₁₃ • 2003 VS₂ • 2007 JH₄₃ • 2017 OF₆₉ | |
| Twotinos | Possible | 2002 WC₁₉ |
| Cubewanos and other Kuiper Belt Objects | Consensus | Haumea • Makemake • Quaoar |
| Possible (cubewanos) | Chaos • Salacia • Varda • Varuna • 1998 SN₁₆₅ • 2002 AW₁₉₇ • 2002 CY₂₄₈ • 2002 KX₁₄ • 2002 MS₄ • 2002 UX₂₅ • 2002 QW₉₀ • 2004 GV₄ • 2004 NT₃₃ • 2004 PF₁₁₅ • 2004 TY₃₆₄ • 2004 UX₁₀ • 2005 RN₄₃ • 2005 UQ₅₁₃ • 2010 FX₈₆ • 229762 Gǃkúnǁʼhòmdímà | |
| Possible (other) | 1999 CD₁₅₈ • 1999 DE₉ • 2000 YW₁₃₄ • 2002 XW₉₃ • 2010 JO₁₇₉ • 2010 VK₂₀₁ • 2011 FW₆₂ • 2011 GM₂₇ • 2013 FZ₂₇ • 2014 UM₃₃ • 2015 AM₂₈₁ • 2015 RR₂₄₅ | |