# 474640 Alicanto
**474640 Alicanto**, provisionally designated **2004 VN\_{112}**, is an extreme trans-Neptunian object, a small icy body whose orbit reaches far beyond Neptune, with a semimajor axis of about 328 AU and a perihelion near 47 AU. It is one of the [detached objects](https://www.edgepedia.org/detached-objects) whose orbits cannot be explained by the gravitational influence of the known giant planets alone, and it is studied as part of the group of extreme trans-Neptunian objects linked to the [Planet Nine hypothesis](https://www.edgepedia.org/planet-nine-hypothesis).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Classification | Extreme trans-Neptunian object, classified as an extreme detached object by Sheppard & Trujillo (2016)[1](https://academic.oup.com/mnrasl/article/467/1/L66/2870017) |
| Discovery | 2004 November 6, by the ESSENCE supernova survey with the 4 m Blanco Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, at apparent magnitude R = 22.7[1](https://academic.oup.com/mnrasl/article/467/1/L66/2870017) |
| Orbit | Semimajor axis 328 ± 2 AU, eccentricity 0.8556 ± 0.0007, inclination 25.5480° ± 0.0003°[2](https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/506/1/633/6307523) |
| Distances | Perihelion 47.33 AU, aphelion 663.27 AU[3](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/474640-alicanto-2004-vn112) |
| Orbital period | 2,450,000 days, about 6,707.73 years[3](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/474640-alicanto-2004-vn112) |
| Size | Absolute magnitude H = 6.4, suggesting a diameter of 130–300 km for assumed albedo 0.25–0.05[1](https://academic.oup.com/mnrasl/article/467/1/L66/2870017) |
| Hazard status | Not classified as potentially hazardous; its orbit stays 46.40 AU from Earth's orbit at the closest point[3](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/474640-alicanto-2004-vn112) |
## Discovery and observations
Alicanto was found on 2004 November 6 by the ESSENCE supernova survey, which used the 4 m Blanco Telescope at [Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory](https://www.edgepedia.org/cerro-tololo-inter-american-observatory) in Chile; the object was recorded at an apparent magnitude of R = 22.7[1](https://academic.oup.com/mnrasl/article/467/1/L66/2870017). Because such an object would have been visible to that survey for only about 2 percent of its orbit, the discovery paper noted that the population of bodies moving on similar orbits could be very significant[1](https://academic.oup.com/mnrasl/article/467/1/L66/2870017).
The orbit is determined from observations dating back to September 26, 2000, with the last official observation on December 1, 2021; the IAU Minor Planet Center records 43 observations used in the orbit solution[3](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/474640-alicanto-2004-vn112). An earlier solution from August 2016 was based on 31 observations spanning a data arc of 5,113 days, or 14 years, with a residual rms of 0.19 arcsec[1](https://academic.oup.com/mnrasl/article/467/1/L66/2870017).
## Orbit
Alicanto moves on a highly eccentric, inclined orbit that carries it from 47.33 AU at perihelion to 663.27 AU at aphelion, with a period of about 6,708 years[3](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/474640-alicanto-2004-vn112). The 2021 orbital solution gives a semimajor axis of 328 ± 2 AU and an eccentricity of 0.8556 ± 0.0007[2](https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/506/1/633/6307523). Objects with perihelia this far from Neptune are only weakly affected by the giant planets, which is what defines the extreme trans-Neptunian population[2](https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/506/1/633/6307523).
Despite its remoteness, the orbit is not static. A 2022 dynamical study of the most distant known trans-Neptunian objects found that Alicanto's orbit overlaps Neptune's 36:1 mean-motion resonance, meaning the object can librate stably in resonance with Neptune even at its great distance[4](https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.02248).
## The pair with 2013 RF98
Alicanto is best known in the research literature as one half of a remarkable pair of extreme trans-Neptunian objects. The orbits of 474640 and 2013 RF\_{98} are strikingly similar: their orbital poles, the directions of their perihelia, and their velocities at perihelion and aphelion are separated by only a few degrees[1](https://academic.oup.com/mnrasl/article/467/1/L66/2870017). A later analysis quantified the relative orbital properties as a difference in longitude of the ascending node of just 1.61 degrees and 3.99 degrees in inclination[5](https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.06813).
Using the OSIRIS camera-spectrograph on the 10.4 m [Gran Telescopio Canarias](https://www.edgepedia.org/gran-telescopio-canarias), visible spectra were taken of both bodies; their slopes, 12 and 15 percent per 0.1 μm, closely resembled each other, differed strongly from Sedna's, yet matched the spectra of (148209) 2000 CR\_{105} and 2012 VP\_{113}.[1](https://academic.oup.com/mnrasl/article/467/1/L66/2870017) These five objects belong to the group of seven extreme trans-Neptunian objects linked to the Planet Nine hypothesis, the proposal that an unknown massive planet in a distant, eccentric, inclined orbit shapes the observed clustering of these orbits[1](https://academic.oup.com/mnrasl/article/467/1/L66/2870017).
The 2017 study concluded that both the dynamical and spectroscopic properties of the pair favor a genetic link, and proposed a specific history: the two objects were once a binary asteroid that was dissociated during a close encounter with a planet near aphelion, a pathway the authors confirmed as plausible using N-body simulations[1](https://academic.oup.com/mnrasl/article/467/1/L66/2870017). Follow-up work modeled close encounters between wide binary extreme trans-Neptunian objects and a hypothetical trans-Plutonian planet as a plausible origin for such correlated pairs[5](https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.06813).
## Physical properties
With an absolute magnitude of H = 6.4 and a slope parameter taken as G = 0.15, the object's calculated size falls between 130 and 300 km, provided its albedo lies anywhere from 0.25 down to 0.05.[1](https://academic.oup.com/mnrasl/article/467/1/L66/2870017) A brightness-based estimate places the diameter between 135.692 and 303.417 kilometers, with a representative value near 175 km[3](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/474640-alicanto-2004-vn112). Sheppard (2010) reported a normalized spectral gradient of 11 ± 4 percent per 0.1 μm for the object from Sloan g′, r′, and i′ optical photometry acquired in 2008[1](https://academic.oup.com/mnrasl/article/467/1/L66/2870017).
Because its orbit never brings it near Earth, Alicanto is not classified as a potentially hazardous object, and it is not considered a viable target for human exploration by the NHATS study[3](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/474640-alicanto-2004-vn112).
## References
1. [de León, J., de la Fuente Marcos, C., & de la Fuente Marcos, R. (2017). Visible spectra of (474640) 2004 VN112–2013 RF98 with OSIRIS at the 10.4 m GTC: evidence for binary dissociation near aphelion among the extreme trans-Neptunian objects. MNRAS Letters, 467, L66–L70.](https://academic.oup.com/mnrasl/article/467/1/L66/2870017)
2. [Peculiar orbits and asymmetries in extreme trans-Neptunian space. MNRAS, 506, 633–649 (2021).](https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/506/1/633/6307523)
3. [Asteroid 474640 Alicanto (2004 VN112), Space Reference.](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/474640-alicanto-2004-vn112)
4. [Orbital dynamics landscape near the most distant known trans-Neptunian objects (2022). arXiv:2208.02248.](https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.02248)
5. [Binary stripping as a plausible origin of correlated pairs of extreme trans-Neptunian objects (2017). arXiv:1709.06813.](https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.06813)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Extraterrestrial places › Small bodies of the Solar System › Kuiper belt and trans-Neptunian objects*
*Initially written Oct 21, 2026*
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