52975 Cyllarus


52975 Cyllarus, provisionally designated, is a centaur orbiting in the outer Solar System. It was discovered on 12 October 1998, by American astronomer Nichole Danzl at the Kitt Peak National Observatory near Sells, Arizona, in the United States. It was later named after the mythological creature Cyllarus.

Orbit and classification

Cyllarus orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 16.3–36.0 AU once every 133 years and 5 months. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.38 and an inclination of 13° with respect to the ecliptic. Cyllarus came to perihelion in September 1989. The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Kitt Peak, as no precoveries were taken, and no prior identifications were made.

Physical characteristics

In November 2009, Mike Brown and his team using the Keck telescope took a spectrum of Cyllarus, giving it "the record for the faintest spectrum of a Kuiper belt object".
As of 2017, no rotational lightcurve has been obtained from photometric observations. The body's rotation period and shape, as well as its spectral type remains unknown.
Based on a generic magnitude-to-diameter conversion, Cyllarus measures roughly about 70 kilometers in diameter, assuming a typical albedo of 0.07 for a centaur. It has an absolute magnitude of 9.4.

Naming

This minor planet was named for the Cyllarus, a centaur of Greek mythology. The approved naming citation was published on 14 June 2003.