Salacia is one of the darkest large objects in the Kuiper Belt
Salacia is about 870 km across but reflects only about 4% of sunlight, as dark as charcoal, so it is much fainter than objects of similar size. It was found in 2004 by Henry Roe, Mike Brown and Kristina Barkume and named for the Roman goddess of salt water. Its moon Actaea is about a third its width.
Salacia orbits between 37 and 47 AU from the Sun every 274 years.
What is known about the surface of Salacia
Atmosphere
none
Reflectivity
reflects about 4% of sunlight
Salacia compared with Pluto
Pluto is the yardstick for the outer solar system: 2,376 km across, 39.5 AU from the Sun on average, on a 248-year orbit.
Salacia has one known moon, Actaea
A moon's orbit gives the mass of the body it circles, which is how the masses of distant dwarf planets are known.
| Moon | Diameter | Distance | Orbit | Found |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actaea | 300 km | 5,619 km | 5.5 days | 2006 |
Salacia is beyond the reach of backyard telescopes
At about magnitude 20.1, Salacia is far too faint for amateur telescopes and is followed with some of the largest telescopes on Earth.
Salacia among the dwarf planets and distant worlds
Dwarf planets and candidates beyond Neptune, by distance27
| Name | Region | Average distance (AU) | Diameter (km) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pluto | Kuiper Belt | 39.24 | 2,376 |
| Orcus | Kuiper Belt | 39.34 | 910 |
| Ixion | Kuiper Belt | 39.35 | 697 |
| Achlys | Kuiper Belt | 39.63 | 772 |
| Ritona | Kuiper Belt | 41.55 | 679 |
| Máni | Kuiper Belt | 41.59 | 796 |
| Goibniu | Kuiper Belt | 41.81 | 680 |
| Salacia | Kuiper Belt | 42.12 | 866 |
| Uni | Kuiper Belt | 43 | 610 |
| Haumea | Kuiper Belt | 43.01 | 1,595 |
| Quaoar | Kuiper Belt | 43.15 | 1,110 |
| Varuna | Kuiper Belt | 43.18 | 668 |
| Makemake | Kuiper Belt | 45.51 | 1,430 |
| Varda | Kuiper Belt | 45.54 | 740 |
| Chaos | Kuiper Belt | 46.11 | 600 |
| Aya | Kuiper Belt | 47.3 | 768 |
| 2013 FZ27 | Kuiper Belt | 48.14 | 570 |
| Chiminigagua | Scattered disc | 58.79 | 742 |
| Gonggong | Scattered disc | 66.89 | 1,230 |
| Eris | Scattered disc | 68 | 2,326 |
| Gǃkúnǁʼhòmdímà | Scattered disc | 74.59 | 614 |
| 2015 RR245 | Scattered disc | 81.3 | 670 |
| 2014 UZ224 | Scattered disc | 109.9 | 635 |
| 2012 VP113 | Detached / inner Oort cloud | 262.3 | 450 |
| 2015 BP519 | Scattered disc | 449 | 584 |
| Sedna | Detached / inner Oort cloud | 549.5 | 995 |
| Leleākūhonua | Detached / inner Oort cloud | 1,190 | 220 |
Salacia physical and orbital data
Every value in the planets dataset for Salacia
| Classification | dwarf planet candidate |
| Designation | (120347) Salacia (2004 SB60) |
| Discovered | 2004 |
| Discoverer | Henry Roe, Michael Brown, Kristina Barkume |
| Named for | Salacia, Roman goddess of salt water, wife of Neptune |
| Average distance from the Sun | 42.115 AU |
| Closest to the Sun (perihelion) | 37.761 AU |
| Farthest from the Sun (aphelion) | 46.468 AU |
| Orbital eccentricity | 0.103 |
| Orbital inclination | 23.93° |
| Orbital period | 273.31 years |
| Average orbital speed | 4.59 km/s |
| Diameter | 866 km |
| Mass | 4.922 × 1020 kg |
| Mass (Earth = 1) | 0.000082 |
| Density | 1.5 g/cm³ |
| Gravity | 0.175 m/s² |
| Escape velocity | 0.39 km/s |
| Albedo | 0.042 |
| Brightest magnitude | 20.1 |
| Atmosphere | none |
| Moons | 1 |
| Rings | No |
From the site's planets dataset (planets_q426). Each row in the dataset lists its sources.