| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
| Orbital characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Orbit type | Plutino |
| Semimajor axis | 39.4851 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.2416 |
| Orbital period | 248 Years |
| Inclination | 19.627° |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Diameter | 1055? km |
| Albedo | ? |
| History | |
| Discoverer | Deep Ecliptic SurveyThe Deep Ecliptic Survey is a project to find Kuiper belt objects, using the facilities of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory. The principal investigator is Bob Millis. Notable discoveries include 19521 Chaos and 28978 Ixion. External links http:/ |
| Discovery Date | 2001- 05-22 |
Little is known about Ixion. The latest spectroscopySpectrometer, Spectrograph A spectroscope is a device which measures the spectrum of light. Early spectroscopes were simply a prism with graduations marking wavelengths. Modern spectroscopes generally use a diffraction grating, a movable slit and some kin results indicate that it has a surface that is a mixture of dark carbonAlternative meaning: Carbon (computing Carbon is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol C and atomic number 6. An abundant nonmetallic, tetravalent element, carbon has several allotropic forms: diamonds (hardest known mineral). Bindi and tholin, which is a heteropolymer formed by irradiation of clathrates of water and organic compounds (such as methane or ethane).
28978 Ixion is named after Ixion, a figure from Greek mythology. It previously had the systematic name 2001 KX76.