88611 Teharonhiawako

88611 Teharonhiawako (provisional designation 2001 QT₁₉₇) is a trans-Neptunian object and a member of the cold classical Kuiper belt, measuring about 220 km in diameter. It is a binary object, with a large companion named Sawiskera (formally designated (88611) Teharonhiawako I), which at 126 km in diameter is about two-thirds the size of its primary.^[7] The two components together are known as the Teharonhiawako–Sawiskera binary system.

88611 Teharonhiawako

Hubble Space Telescope image of Teharonhiawako and its companion Sawiskera, taken in 2010
Discovery
Discovered by	Deep Ecliptic Survey
Discovery date	20 August 2001
Designations
MPC designation	(88611) Teharonhiawako
Pronunciation	Mohawk: [d̥ɛhaɺũhjáːɰaɡo]
Alternative designations	2001 QT297
Minor planet category	TNO · cubewano[1] cold[2]
Orbital characteristics[3]
Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5)
Uncertainty parameter 3
Observation arc	4463 days (12.22 yr)
Aphelion	45.235 AU (6.7671 Tm)
Perihelion	42.454 AU (6.3510 Tm)
Semi-major axis	43.845 AU (6.5591 Tm)
Eccentricity	0.031712
Orbital period (sidereal)	290.32 yr (106041 d)
Mean anomaly	158.44°
Mean motion	0.0033949°/day
Inclination	2.5834°
Longitude of ascending node	304.78°
Argument of perihelion	236.43°
Known satellites	Sawiskera [zaɰískɛɺa]
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	220+41 −44 km (combined) 178+33 −36 km (primary) 129+24 −26 km (secondary)[4]
Mass	2.445×1018 kg[5]
Mean density	1.15+0.87 −0.91 g/cm3[4]
Sidereal rotation period	4.7526±0.0007 h[6]
Geometric albedo	0.145+0.086 −0.045[4]
Absolute magnitude (H)	6.00±0.13[6] 5.8[3]

Discovery

Teharonhiawako was discovered on August 20, 2001, by the Deep Ecliptic Survey, and Sawiskera was identified a month later.

Naming

The primary is named after Teharonhia꞉wako, a god of maize in the Iroquois creation myth, while the secondary is named after his evil twin brother Sawiskera. The objects were named in 2007.^[7]

Binary

Teharonhiawako and Sawiskera is a binary minor planet which orbit each other. Their orbit has the following parameters: semi-major-axis—27670 ± 120 km, period—828.76 ± 0.22 days, eccentricity—0.2494 ± 0.0021 and inclination—144.42 ± 0.35°(retrograde). The total system mass is about 2.4 × 10¹⁸ kg.^[5]