20000 Varuna

E79025

20000 Varuna is a large trans-Neptunian object in the Kuiper Belt, notable for its rapid rotation, elongated shape, and status as one of the earliest discovered significant bodies beyond Neptune.

AI illustration

How this image was made

AI-generated illustration of 20000 Varuna

This AI-generated illustration was produced by black-forest-labs/FLUX.2-dev (1024x1024) from a prompt written by openai/gpt-oss-120b from the entity's label + description.

Prompt

Generate an image of 20000 Varuna (20000 Varuna is a large trans-Neptunian object in the Kuiper Belt, notable for its rapid rotation, elongated shape, and status as one of the earliest discovered significant bodies beyond Neptune.)

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
20000 Varuna canonical 3
2000 WR106 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Kuiper Belt object ⓘ
classical Kuiper Belt object ⓘ
cubewano ⓘ
large trans-Neptunian object ⓘ
minor planet ⓘ
non-resonant trans-Neptunian object ⓘ
trans-Neptunian object ⓘ
absoluteMagnitude ~3.7 ⓘ
albedo ~0.07 ⓘ
aphelionDistance ~45.5 AU ⓘ
catalog Minor Planet Center database ⓘ
color moderately red ⓘ
diameter 600–700 km ⓘ
~650 km ⓘ
discoverer D. L. Rabinowitz ⓘ
linked to: David L. Rabinowitz

K. Rabinowitz ⓘ
linked to: David L. Rabinowitz
discoveryDate 2000-11-28 ⓘ
discoveryMethod CCD imaging survey ⓘ
discoveryRank one of the first large trans-Neptunian objects found after Pluto and Charon ⓘ
discoverySite Kitt Peak National Observatory ⓘ
Spacewatch ⓘ
dynamicalClass hot classical Kuiper Belt object ⓘ
eccentricity ~0.056 ⓘ
hasRings no confirmed rings ⓘ
hasSatellite no confirmed satellites ⓘ
inclination ~17 degrees ⓘ
lightcurveAmplitude large ⓘ
lightcurveInterpretation highly elongated body or contact binary ⓘ
meanMotionResonance none with Neptune ⓘ
mpcNumber 20000 ⓘ
namedAfter Hindu deity Varuna ⓘ
linked to: Hindu god Varuna

Varuna ⓘ
notableFor being one of the earliest discovered large Kuiper Belt objects ⓘ
elongated shape ⓘ
rapid rotation ⓘ
orbitalPeriod ~283 years ⓘ
orbitalRegion Kuiper Belt ⓘ
trans-Neptunian region ⓘ
orbits Sun ⓘ
perihelionDistance ~40.7 AU ⓘ
provisionalDesignation 2000 WR106 ⓘ
linked to: 20000 Varuna
rotationCharacteristic rapid rotation ⓘ
rotationPeriod ~6.34 hours ⓘ
semiMajorAxis ~43.1 AU ⓘ
shape elongated ⓘ
spectralType neutral to moderately red TNO spectrum ⓘ
status non-dwarf-planet ⓘ
surfaceComposition complex organics ⓘ
water ice ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Kuiper Belt object → example → 20000 Varuna ⓘ
subject linked to: Kuiper Belt objects
Varuna → hasMinorPlanetDesignation → 20000 Varuna ⓘ
20000 Varuna → provisionalDesignation → 2000 WR106 ⓘ
linked to: 20000 Varuna
David L. Rabinowitz → coDiscovererOf → 20000 Varuna ⓘ