Back 90377 Sedna Afrikaans (90377) Sedna AN سدنا (كوكب قزم) Arabic سدنا 90377 ARZ 90377 Sedna Azerbaijani Sedna BAR (90377) Седна Byelorussian Сэдна BE-X-OLD 90377 Седна Bulgarian (90377) Sedna Catalan

Sedna (dwarf planet)

90377 Sedna
Single fuzzy white dot with lots of background noise
Low-resolution image of Sedna by the Hubble Space Telescope, March 2004
Discovery[1]
Discovered byMichael Brown
Chad Trujillo
David Rabinowitz
Discovery siteSamuel Oschin Telescope
Discovery date14 November 2003
Designations
(90377) Sedna
Pronunciation/ˈsɛdnə/
Named after
Sedna (Inuit goddess of sea and marine animals)
2003 VB12
TNO[2] · detached
sednoid[3] dwarf planet
AdjectivesSednian[4]
Symbol⯲ (mostly astrological)
Orbital characteristics (barycentric)[2]
Epoch 31 May 2020 (JD 2458900.5)
Uncertainty parameter 2
Observation arc30 years
Earliest precovery date25 September 1990
Aphelion937 AU (140 billion km)[5][a]
Perihelion76.19 AU (11.4 billion km)[6][5][7]
506 AU (76 billion km)[5] or 0.007 ly
Eccentricity0.8496[5]
11390 yr (barycentric)[a]
11,408 Gregorian years
1.04 km/s
358.117°
0° 0m 0.289s / day
Inclination11.9307°
144.248°
≈ 18 July 2076[6][7]
311.352°
Physical characteristics
906+314
−258 km[8]
> 1025±135 km
(occultation chord)[9]
10.273±0.002 h
(~18 h less likely)[10]
0.410+0.393
−0.186[8]
Temperature≈ 12 K (see note)
(red) B−V=1.24; V−R=0.78[11]
20.8 (opposition)[12]
20.5 (perihelic)[13]
1.83±0.05[14]
1.3[2]

Sedna (minor-planet designation: 90377 Sedna) is a dwarf planet in the outermost reaches of the Solar System, orbiting the Sun far beyond the orbit of Neptune. Discovered in 2003, the frigid planetoid is one of the reddest known among Solar System bodies. Detailed spectroscopic analysis has revealed Sedna's surface to be a mixture of the solid ices of water (H2O),[15] carbon dioxide (CO2), and ethane (C2H6), along with occasional sedimentary deposits of methane (CH4)-derived,[16] vividly reddish-colored organic tholins,[15] a surface chemical makeup somewhat similar to those of other trans-Neptunian objects.[17] Sedna has no detectable atmosphere, as its temperature is far too low for solids to volatilize.[18] Within range of uncertainty, it is tied with the dwarf planet Ceres in the asteroid belt as the largest dwarf planet not known to have a moon. With a diameter of roughly 1,000 km,[19] it is nearly the size of Tethys around Saturn. Owing to its lack of known moons,[20] the Keplerian laws of planetary motion cannot be utilized for determining its mass, and the actual figure remains as yet unknown.

Sedna's orbit is one of the widest known in the Solar System. Its aphelion, the farthest point from the Sun in its orbit, is located 937 astronomical units (AU) away.[5] This is some 19 times that of Pluto, leading to it spending most of its time well beyond the heliopause (120 AU),[21] the boundary beyond which the influences of particles from interstellar space dominate those from the Sun. Sedna's orbit is also one of the most elliptical and narrow discovered, with an eccentricity of 0.8496. This implies that its perihelion, or point of closest approach to the Sun, at 76 AU is around 12.3 times as close as its aphelion. As of February 2025, Sedna is 83.20 AU (12.45 billion km) from the Sun,[22] approaching perihelion at ~4.4 km/s,[23] and 2.5 times as far away as Neptune. The dwarf planets Eris and Gonggong are presently farther away from the Sun. A transfer window for a probe fly-by in 2029 utilizing a gravitational assist from Jupiter was proposed, taking 25 years to travel to the dwarf planet, 80 AU (12 billion kilometers) distant.[24]

Due to its exceptionally elongated orbit, the dwarf planet takes approximately 11,400 years, or over 11 millennia, to return to the same point in its orbit around the Sun. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) initially classified Sedna as a member of the scattered disc, a group of objects sent into high-eccentricity orbits by the gravitational influence of Neptune. However, several astronomers who worked in the associated field contested this classification as even its perihelion is far too distant for it to have been scattered by any of the currently known planets. This has led some astronomers to informally refer to it as the first known member of the inner Oort cloud. The dwarf planet is also the prototype of a new orbit class of objects named after itself, the sednoids, which include 2012 VP113 and Leleākūhonua, both celestial bodies with large perihelion distances and high eccentricities.[25]

The astronomer Michael E. Brown, co-discoverer of Sedna, has argued that its unusual orbit could provide information on the early evolution of the Solar System.[26][27] Sedna might have been perturbed into its orbit by a star within the Sun's birth cluster, or captured from a nearby wandering star, or have been sent into its present orbit through a close gravitational encounter with the hypothetical 9th planet, sometime during the solar system's formation.[28] The statistically unusual clustering to one side of the solar system of the aphelions of Sedna and other similar objects is speculated to be the evidence for the existence of a planet beyond the orbit of Neptune,[29] which would by itself orbit on the opposing side of the Sun.[30][31][32]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference discovery was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference jpldata was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference DES was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference sednian was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference barycenter was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Perihelion2076 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference AstDyS2076 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b Lellouch, E.; Santos-Sanz, P.; Lacerda, P.; Mommert, M.; Duffard, R.; Ortiz, J. L.; Müller, T. G.; Fornasier, S.; Stansberry, J.; Kiss, Cs.; Vilenius, E.; Mueller, M.; Peixinho, N.; Moreno, R.; Groussin, O. (29 September 2013). ""TNOs are Cool": A survey of the trans-Neptunian region: IX. Thermal properties of Kuiper belt objects and Centaurs from combined Herschel and Spitzer observations⋆⋆⋆". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 557: A60. Bibcode:2013A&A...557A..60L. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201322047. hdl:10316/80307. ISSN 0004-6361.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rommel2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gaudi2005 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Tegler was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference AstDys was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Horizons2076 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference herschel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ a b Emery, J. P.; Wong, I.; Brunetto, R.; Cook, J. C.; Pinilla-Alonso, N.; Stansberry, J. A.; Holler, B. J.; Grundy, W. M.; Protopapa, S.; Souza-Feliciano, A. C.; Fernández-Valenzuela, E.; Lunine, J. I.; Hines, D. C. (15 May 2024). "A tale of 3 dwarf planets: Ices and organics on Sedna, Gonggong, and Quaoar from JWST spectroscopy". Icarus. 414: 116017. arXiv:2309.15230. Bibcode:2024Icar..41416017E. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2024.116017. ISSN 0019-1035. Sedna's relatively high visible-wavelength geometric albedo of 0.32 (which suggests a NIR geometric albedo close to or exceeding 1.0) indicates an ice-rich surface, despite the clear spectral signatures of complex organic molecules.
  16. ^ Zubko, V. A.; Sukhanov, A. A.; Fedyaev, K. S.; Koryanov, V. V.; Belyaev, A. A. (1 October 2021). "Analysis of mission opportunities to Sedna in 2029–2034". Advances in Space Research. 68 (7): 2752–2775. arXiv:2112.13017. Bibcode:2021AdSpR..68.2752Z. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2021.05.035. ISSN 0273-1177 – via Elsevier Science Direct. ...As estimated in (Trujillo et al., 2005, Barucci et al., 2005, Emery et al., 2007, Pál et al., 2012, Trujillo and Sheppard, 2014), the object has a layer of hydrocarbon sediment produced by irradiated methane. The existence of the hydrocarbon sediment may be a reason why the Sedna's surface is a bright red shade (Cuk, 2004, Sheppard, 2010)....
  17. ^ Emery, J. P.; Wong, I.; Brunetto, R.; Cook, J. C.; Pinilla-Alonso, N.; Stansberry, J. A.; Holler, B. J.; Grundy, W. M.; Protopapa, S.; Souza-Feliciano, A. C.; Fernández-Valenzuela, E.; Lunine, J. I.; Hines, D. C. (15 May 2024). "A tale of 3 dwarf planets: Ices and organics on Sedna, Gonggong, and Quaoar from JWST spectroscopy". Icarus. 414: 116017. arXiv:2309.15230. Bibcode:2024Icar..41416017E. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2024.116017. ISSN 0019-1035. Spectra of all three objects show steep red spectral slopes and strong, broad absorptions between 2.7 and 3.6 μm indicative of complex organic molecules......These differences of Sedna, Gonggong, and Quaoar from the smaller KBO population supports the inference of different evolutionary history based on their size.
  18. ^ Emery, J. P.; Wong, I.; Brunetto, R.; Cook, J. C.; Pinilla-Alonso, N.; Stansberry, J. A.; Holler, B. J.; Grundy, W. M.; Protopapa, S.; Souza-Feliciano, A. C.; Fernández-Valenzuela, E.; Lunine, J. I.; Hines, D. C. (15 May 2024). "A tale of 3 dwarf planets: Ices and organics on Sedna, Gonggong, and Quaoar from JWST spectroscopy". Icarus. 414. arXiv:2309.15230. Bibcode:2024Icar..41416017E. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2024.116017. ISSN 0019-1035 – via Elsevier Science Direct. ...Sedna is not expected to support an atmosphere at its great distances...
  19. ^ Bettati, Amelia; Lunine, Jonathan (1 April 2025). "Atmospheric escape explains diverse surface compositions of Pluto vs Sedna". Icarus. 430: 1. Bibcode:2025Icar..43016482B. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116482. ISSN 0019-1035. ...Although the radius is also uncertain, we minimize the number of cases by taking an average radius of 1000 km for Sedna...
  20. ^ Bettati, Amelia; Lunine, Jonathan (1 April 2025). "Atmospheric escape explains diverse surface compositions of Pluto vs Sedna". Icarus. 430: 12. Bibcode:2025Icar..43016482B. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116482. ISSN 0019-1035. ...No moon has been detected around Sedna, so it is not yet possible to calculate its density,...
  21. ^ Emery, J. P.; Wong, I.; Brunetto, R.; Cook, J. C.; Pinilla-Alonso, N.; Stansberry, J. A.; Holler, B. J.; Grundy, W. M.; Protopapa, S.; Souza-Feliciano, A. C.; Fernández-Valenzuela, E.; Lunine, J. I.; Hines, D. C. (15 May 2024). "A tale of 3 dwarf planets: Ices and organics on Sedna, Gonggong, and Quaoar from JWST spectroscopy". Icarus. 414: 12, right paragraph 3. arXiv:2309.15230. Bibcode:2024Icar..41416017E. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2024.116017. ISSN 0019-1035. ...Sedna spends most of its time outside of the heliopause (at ~120 AU; e.g., Stone et al., 2013, 2019),...
  22. ^ "Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) | TheSkyLive". theskylive.com. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
  23. ^ Conservation of specific kinetic + potential energy, with Sun's gravitational parameter substituted.
  24. ^ Zubko, V. A.; Sukhanov, A. A.; Fedyaev, K. S.; Koryanov, V. V.; Belyaev, A. A. (1 October 2021). "Analysis of mission opportunities to Sedna in 2029–2034". Advances in Space Research. 68 (7): 2752–2775. arXiv:2112.13017. Bibcode:2021AdSpR..68.2752Z. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2021.05.035. ISSN 0273-1177 – via Elsevier Science Direct. ...Results of the research presented in this article show that the launch in 2029 provides the best transfer conditions in terms of minimum total characteristic velocity...
  25. ^ Huang, Yukun; Gladman, Brett (15 February 2024). "Primordial Orbital Alignment of Sednoids". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 962 (2): L33. arXiv:2310.20614. Bibcode:2024ApJ...962L..33H. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ad2686. ISSN 2041-8205. We examined the past history of the three most detached trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs)—Sedna, 2012 VP113, and Leleakuhonua (2015 TG387)—the three clearest members of the dynamical class known as sednoids, with high perihelia distances q...
  26. ^ Cite error: The named reference fussman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  27. ^ Cite error: The named reference Chang_2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  28. ^ Zubko, V. A.; Sukhanov, A. A.; Fedyaev, K. S.; Koryanov, V. V.; Belyaev, A. A. (1 October 2021). "Analysis of mission opportunities to Sedna in 2029–2034". Advances in Space Research. 68 (7): 2752–2775. arXiv:2112.13017. Bibcode:2021AdSpR..68.2752Z. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2021.05.035. ISSN 0273-1177 – via Elsevier Science Direct. The discoverers (Brown et al., 2004) have supposed that Sedna was created in the Solar System at the early stage of its evolution, and its orbit was changed because of dynamic effects that followed the Sun's formation within a dense stellar cluster (Brown et al., 2004, Morbidelli and Levison, 2004, Kenyon and Bromley, 2004, Adams, 2010, Kaib et al., 2011, Brasser and Schwamb, 2015). According to other versions, Sedna's orbit was changed by a stellar encounter (Kaib and Quinn, 2008) (e.g., the passing Scholz's star about 70 thousand years ago (Mamajek et al., 2015) at a distance of 52 thousand au from the Sun), or Sedna was captured from a low-mass star or a brown dwarf in interstellar space (Morbidelli and Levison, 2004).
  29. ^ Batygin, Konstantin; Brown, Michael E. (20 January 2016). "Evidence for a Distant Giant Planet in the Solar System". The Astronomical Journal. 151 (2). Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA: 22. arXiv:1601.05438. Bibcode:2016AJ....151...22B. doi:10.3847/0004-6256/151/2/22. ABSTRACT Recent analyses have shown that distant orbits within the scattered disk population of the Kuiper Belt exhibit an unexpected clustering in their respective arguments of perihelion....In this work we show that the orbits of distant Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) cluster not only in argument of perihelion, but also in physical space. We demonstrate that the perihelion positions and orbital planes of the objects are tightly confined and that such a clustering has only a probability of 0.007% to be due to chance....can be maintained by a distant eccentric planet with mass 10 m⊕ .... whose perihelion is 180° away from the perihelia of the minor bodies....Continued analysis ....provides the opportunity for testing our hypothesis as well as further constraining the orbital elements and mass of the distant planet.
  30. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mike was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  31. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lakdawalla_2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  32. ^ Cite error: The named reference Evidence for a Distant Giant Planet was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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