List of the brightest Kuiper belt objects

Since the year 2000, a number of Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) with diameters of between 500 and 1500 km (more than half that of Pluto) have been discovered. 50000 Quaoar, a classical KBO discovered in 2002, is over 1000 km across. Makemake and Haumea, both announced on 29 July 2005, are larger still. Other objects, such as 28978 Ixion (discovered in 2001) and 20000 Varuna (discovered in 2000) measure roughly 500 km across.^[1] This has led gradually to the acceptance of Pluto as the largest member of the Kuiper belt.^{[citation needed]}

The brightest known dwarf planets and other KBOs (with absolute magnitudes < 4.0) are:

Number	Permanent Designation[2]	Provisional Designation[2]	Absolute magnitude[3]	Bond Albedo (%)[2]	Semimajor axis (AU)[3]	Equatorial diameter (km)[2]	Date found[2]	Discoverer[3]	Diameter method[4]
134340	Pluto		−0.8	72	39.4	2377	1930	C. Tombaugh	direct imaging
136472	Makemake	2005 FY9	−0.2	80	45.6	1430	2005	M. Brown, C. Trujillo, D. Rabinowitz	occultation
136108	Haumea	2003 EL61	0.2	51	43.3	1595	2003	Sierra Nevada Observatory (unofficial)	occultation
	Charon	S/1978 P 1	1.0	20 to 50 (geometric)	39.4	1212	1978	J. Christy	direct imaging
90482	Orcus	2004 DW	2.2	23	39.3	910	2004	M. Brown, C. Trujillo, D. Rabinowitz	thermal
50000	Quaoar	2002 LM60	2.4	11	43.7	1070	2002	C. Trujillo, M. Brown	thermal
174567	Varda	2003 MW12	3.2	10	46.1	705	2003	J. A. Larsen	estimated
55565		2002 AW197	3.3	11	47.2	768	2002	NEAT	thermal
55636		2002 TX300	3.4	88	43.2	286	2002	NEAT	Haumea family, estimated
202421		2005 UQ513	3.5	20	43.2	498	2005	Palomar	estimated
307261		2002 MS4	3.6	5	42.0	934	2002	C. Trujillo, M. Brown	thermal
208996		2003 AZ84	3.6	10	39.4	772	2003	C. Trujillo, M. Brown	thermal
20000	Varuna	2000 WR106	3.6	11	42.3	678	2000	Spacewatch	thermal
55637		2002 UX25	3.6	11	42.5	665	2002	Spacewatch	thermal
28978	Ixion	2001 KX76	3.6	14	39.8	617	2001	DES	thermal
145452		2005 RN43	3.7	11	41.6	679	2005	A. C. Becker, A. W. Puckett, J. Kubica	thermal
120178		2003 OP32	3.9	70?[4]	43.4	218?[4]	2003	M. Brown, C. Trujillo, D. Rabinowitz	Haumea family, estimated

See also

• List of trans-Neptunian objects

References

1. Audrey Delsanti & David Jewitt. "The Solar System Beyond The Planets" (PDF). Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-01-29. Retrieved 2007-03-09.
2. Johnston, W. R. (7 October 2018). "List of Known Trans-Neptunian Objects". Retrieved 6 February 2019.
3. "List of Transneptunian Objects". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
4. Brown, M. (12 November 2018). "How many dwarf planets are there?". Retrieved 6 February 2019.