385446 Manwë is a binary resonant Kuiper belt object in a 4:7 mean-motion resonance with Neptune. It was discovered on 25 August 2003, by American astronomer Marc Buie at Cerro Tololo Observatory in northern Chile.
The secondary, Thorondor, formally (385446) Manwë I Thorondor, is estimated to be about half the size of the primary, 33–53 km vs. 58–92 km. The light curve has considerable photometric variability, with the relative magnitude of the two objects measured variously from 0.6–2.1 over the course of a few years
Manwë was discovered on 25 August 2003 by M. W. Buie at Cerro Tololo as a part of the Deep Ecliptic Survey. The object was named after Manwë, the fictional king of the Valar in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. Manwë is foremost among the great spirits who rule the world. Manwë takes special responsibility for the air and winds. Thorondor is the Lord of Eagles in the First Age in Tolkien's writing.
Manwë has significant and irregular photometric variability, demonstrating that its components are not tidally locked. The surfaces of Manwë and Thorondor appear to be very red. The composition of Manwë is unknown but likely to be mostly ice, because the nominal density (with large uncertainty) is less than that of water. At least one other Kuiper belt object, (55637) 2002 UX25, has been found with a density of less than 1 g/cm3, which implies an object made mostly of ice with a low rock fraction and high porosity.
Manwë and Thorondor are predicted to be going through a period of mutual occultations and transits from 2014–2018, where one object crosses in front of the other as seen from Earth. Pluto and Charon went through a similar series of mutual events from 1985–1990. Observations of these events will allow for better estimates of the radii of the two objects and their densities, as well as possibly determining their shapes and mapping surface color and albedo features. The first event, an inferior occultation, is predicted for 2014 July 16, and they continue until 2018 October 25.
Eurytus, a centaur present at the wedding of Pirithous and Hippodamia, and the one that caused the conflict between the Lapiths and the Centaurs by trying to carry the bride off. The most violent of the centaurs involved in the battle with the Lapiths, he was killed by Theseus.
2019 AQ3 is an inclined near-Earth object of the small Atira group from the innermost region of the Solar System, estimated to measure 1.4 kilometers (0.9 miles) in diameter.
Among the hundreds of thousands known asteroids, 2019 AQ3's orbit was thought to have likely the smallest semi-major axis (0.589 AU) and aphelion (0.77 AU), that is, the orbit's average distance and farthest point from the Sun, respectively. The object was first observed on 4 January 2019, by astronomers at Palomar's Zwicky Transient Facility in California, with recovered images dating back to 2015.
174567 Varda, provisional designation 2003 MW12, is a trans-Neptunian object with an absolute magnitude of 3.5. It is highly likely to be a dwarf planet. It was discovered on June 21, 2003 by Jeffrey A. Larsen with the Spacewatch telescope. Names for Varda and its moon were announced on 16 January 2014.
Varda was one of the Valar, a group of heavenly beings similar to Archangels. Also known as “Queen of the stars”, she was said to be too beautiful for words; within her face radiated the light of Eru Ilúvatar, the “One All-Father” God. She resided with her husband Manwë, with whom she shared a complementary power.
Hypatia (minor planet designation: 238 Hypatia) is a very large main-belt asteroid that was discovered by Russian astronomer Viktor Knorre on July 1, 1884, in Berlin. It was the third of his four asteroid discoveries. The name was given in honour of philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria. Based upon the spectrum, it is classified as a C-type asteroid and is probably composed of primitive carbonaceous material. Like many asteroids of this type, its surface is very dark in colour.
The Minor Planet Center (MPC) has officially named an asteroid for William Shatner. Shatner (31556) also goes by the moniker 1999 EP5.
Roy A. Tucker, who operates Goodricke-Pigott Observatory, discovered this minor planet March 13, 1999. That date was the 69th anniversary of the announcement of the discovery of Pluto by Lowell Observatory. Roy works as a senior engineer in the Imaging Technology Laboratory of the University of Arizona.
“William Shatner (b. 1931) is a Canadian actor. Best known for portraying Captain James Tiberius Kirk in ‘Star Trek,’ he has attained the status of cultural icon. His character has inspired people to become writers, researchers, pilots and astronauts. Shatner is also a well-known author and director.”
2060 Chiron is a minor planet in the outer Solar System, orbiting between Saturn and Uranus. Discovered in 1977 by Charles T. Kowal (precovery images have been found as far back as 1895), it was the first-identified member of a new class of objects now known as centaurs (minor planets orbiting between the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt).
Besides the four gas giants, Chiron and 10199 Chariklo, also a centaur, are the only bodies in the Solar System known to have rings.
Although it was initially called an asteroid and classified only as a minor planet with the designation “2060 Chiron”, it was later found to exhibit behavior typical of a comet. Today it is classified as both a minor planet and a comet, and is accordingly also known by the cometary designation “95P/Chiron”.
Chiron is named after the centaur Chiron in Greek mythology.
Michael Brown lists it as possibly a dwarf planet with a measured diameter of 206 km, which is near the lower limit for an icy dwarf planet (around 200 km).
15810 Arawn provisional designation 1994 JR1, is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) from the inner regions of the Kuiper belt, approximately 133 kilometres (83 mi) in diameter. It belongs to the plutinos, the largest class of resonant TNOs. It was named after Arawn, the ruler of the Celtic underworld, and discovered on 12 May 1994, by astronomers Michael Irwin and Anna Zytkow with the 2.5-metre Isaac Newton Telescope at La Palma Observatory in the Canary Islands, Spain.
Arawn is unique in that it has been observed at a much closer distance than most Kuiper belt objects, by the New Horizons spacecraft, which imaged it a distance of 111 million km (69 million mi; 0.74 AU) in April 2016; this and its other observations have allowed its rotation period to be determined.
