A classical Kuiper belt object, also called a cubewano ( /ˌkjuːbiːˈwʌnoʊ/ "QB1-o") is a low-eccentricity Kuiper belt object (KBO) that orbits beyond Neptune and is not controlled by an orbital resonance with Neptune. Cubewanos have orbits with semi-major axes in the 40–50 AU range and, unlike Pluto, do not cross Neptune’s orbit. That is, they have low-eccentricity and sometimes low-inclination orbits like the classical planets.
The name "cubewano" derives from the first trans-Neptunian object (TNO) found after Pluto and Charon, (15760) 1992 QB1. Similar objects found later were often called "QB1-o's", or "cubewanos", after this object, though the term "classical" is much more frequently used in the scientific literature.
Objects identified as cubewanos include:
- (15760) 1992 QB1
- Makemake, the largest known cubewano and a dwarf planet
- (50000) Quaoar and (20000) Varuna, each considered the largest TNO at the time of discovery
- 19521 Chaos, 58534 Logos, 53311 Deucalion, 66652 Borasisi, 88611 Teharonhiawako
- (33001) 1997 CU29, (55636) 2002 TX300, (55565) 2002 AW197, (55637) 2002 UX25
Haumea (2003 EL61) was provisionally listed as a cubewano by the Minor Planet Center in 2006, but turned out to be resonant.
Read more about Classical Kuiper Belt Object: Orbits: 'hot' and 'cold' Populations, Cold and Hot Populations: Physical Characteristics, Toward A Formal Definition, Families
Famous quotes containing the words classical, belt and/or object:
“Et in Arcadia ego.
[I too am in Arcadia.]”
—Anonymous, Anonymous.
Tomb inscription, appearing in classical paintings by Guercino and Poussin, among others. The words probably mean that even the most ideal earthly lives are mortal. Arcadia, a mountainous region in the central Peloponnese, Greece, was the rustic abode of Pan, depicted in literature and art as a land of innocence and ease, and was the title of Sir Philip Sidney’s pastoral romance (1590)
“Your work is to keep cranking the flywheel that turns the gears that spin the belt in the engine of belief that keeps you and your desk in midair.”
—Annie Dillard (b. 1945)
“Did men but consider that the sun, moon, and stars, and every other object of the senses, are only so many sensations in their minds, which have no other existence but barely being perceived, doubtless they would never fall down and worship their own ideas; but rather address their homage to that eternal invisible Mind which produces and sustains all things.”
—George Berkeley (1685–1753)