208996 Achlys

Planets and Dwarf Planets

208996 Achlys, provisionally designated 2003 AZ84, is a large trans-Neptunian object in the Kuiper belt. Discovered at Palomar Observatory in 2003, it is described as the third largest plutino after Pluto and Orcus. Achlys has an elongated shape thought to be affected by rapid rotation. Its dark gray, water-ice-rich surface includes a chasm or depression detected through stellar occultations, and it has one known moon.

Discovery: Discovered on 13 January 2003 by Chad Trujillo and Michael E. Brown at Palomar Observatory.
Orbit class: A plutino in a 2:3 orbital resonance with Neptune.
Surface: Dark gray and mostly composed of water ice.

Sources and credits

Article: 208996 Achlys (English Wikipedia)
Wikidata: Q1944557
Text: Card text is adapted from the English Wikipedia article by an automated summary. Wikipedia content is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for its contributors. CC BY-SA 4.0 · Article history and contributors
Illustration: By Michael E. Brown/STScI/NASA (processing by Nrco0e). Public domain · File page on Wikimedia Commons
Michael E. Brown/STScI/NASA (processing by Nrco0e), Processing is Own work; original images taken by Michael E. Brown with Hubble Space Telescope, archived in the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (proposal ID 10545) under the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) and NASA.
Modifications: Resized and converted to WebP
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