Kuiper Belt object · 486958
Arrokoth
A contact binary beyond Neptune
New Horizons flew past Arrokoth in 2019. Its two joined lobes preserve evidence about how small bodies assembled in the early Solar System.
Understand this world
The Kuiper Belt is not the Oort CloudSeparate the observed populations beyond Neptune from the much more distant proposed Oort Cloud, and compare what New Horizons learned at two targets. · 3 minMeasurements
- Effective diameter
- Not available
- Semimajor axis
- 44.053 AU
- Orbital period
- 106,796.108 Earth days
Orbit, physical values and uncertainties
- eccentricity
- .03555717645015258 ± .00033543
- semi-major axis
- 44.05257835991367 au ± .01006
- perihelion distance
- 42.48619305808604 au ± .021812
- inclination; angle with respect to x-y ecliptic plane
- 2.450613924655929 deg ± .00032721
- longitude of the ascending node
- 159.0377267890618 deg ± .010608
- argument of perihelion
- 188.8507463365642 deg ± .52967
- mean anomaly
- 310.9839309924138 deg ± .47947
- time of perihelion passage
- 2475741.403873053510 TDB ± 137.75
- sidereal orbital period
- 106796.1078945169 d ± 36.584
- mean motion
- .003370909362685521 deg/d ± 1.1547E-6
- aphelion distance
- 45.61896366174129 au ± .010418
- absolute magnitude
- 11.06
- rotation period
- 15.918 h
Published JPL orbital elements describe their stated epoch; they are not current positions. Small-body diameters can be effective/model-dependent sizes, not spherical shapes. Missing measurements remain unavailable. Pluto’s diameter uses the New Horizons reference rather than an empty SBDB field. Orbital epoch: JD 2461200.5 TDB.
Object reference ↗Missions & milestones
1 launches · 0 connected events
These are target-related flights and every connected programme record in the production catalogue. A connected event may concern another stage or target of the same journey. Launch outcome does not establish arrival or current operation.
New Horizons
January 19, 2006 · UTC
Complete source cohort: 9,386 records.