65489 Ceto

65489 Ceto /ˈsiːtoʊ/ is a binary trans-Neptunian object (TNO) discovered on March 22, 2003 by C. A. Trujillo and M. Brown at Palomar. It is named after the sea goddess Ceto from Greek mythology. The object was identified as a binary on April 11, 2006 by K. Noll, H. Levison, W. Grundy and D. Stephens using the Hubble Space Telescope; the companion object is named Phorcys (/ˈfɔərsᵻs/, formally (65849) Ceto I Phorcys), after the Greek sea god. Using an extended definition of a centaur as an object on a non-resonant (unstable) orbit with its perihelion inside the orbit of Neptune, the Ceto system can be considered the second known binary centaur. It came to perihelion in 1989.

Physical characteristics

65489 Ceto is an example of a close binary TNO system in which the components are of similar size. Combined observations with the infrared Spitzer Space Telescope and the Hubble Telescope allow the diameter of Ceto itself to be estimated at 7005174000000000000♠174+16
−18 km and the diameter of Phorcys at 7005132000000000000♠132+6
−14 km, assuming equal albedo for both components.