2004 NT33 is a "cubewano", a classical, low-eccentricity object in the Kuiper belt, that orbits the Sun at a distance of 36.8–50.0 AU once every 286 years and 2 months (104,527 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.15 and an inclination of 31° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] It is currently 39 AU from the Sun.[7]
In 2009, astronomers obtained a rotational lightcurve of 2004 NT33 from photometric observations, which were taken at the Galileo National Telescope (TNG) on the island of La Palma, and at the Sierra Nevada Observatory in Granada, both located in Spain. The ambiguous lightcurve gave a rotation period of 7.87 hours with a low brightness amplitude of 0.04 magnitude (U=1).[2]
Diameter and albedo
According to the "TNOs are Cool" survey, using observations from the space-based Herschel and Spitzer telescopes, 2004 NT33 measures 423 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a visual geometric albedo of 0.125,[4] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.10 and calculates a diameter of 482.53 kilometers with on an absolute magnitude of 4.7.[5]
^ abcVilenius, E.; Kiss, C.; Müller, T.; Mommert, M.; Santos-Sanz, P.; Pál, A.; et al. (April 2014). ""TNOs are Cool": A survey of the trans-Neptunian region. X. Analysis of classical Kuiper belt objects from Herschel and Spitzer observations". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 564: 18. arXiv:1403.6309. Bibcode:2014A&A...564A..35V. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201322416. S2CID118513049.