2014 UZ224

Lore & Background

2014 UZ224 was discovered by a team led by David Gerdes using data collected by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam). The discovery was announced by the Minor Planet Center on 11 October 2016. The earliest known precovery observations were taken at the Mauna Kea Observatory on 15 October 2006. Assuming its nominal diameter of 635 km, it reflects just 13 percent of the sunlight that hits it. As of 2021, it is approximately 89.7 AU from the Sun and will slowly decrease in distance until it reaches its perihelion of 38 AU in 2142. It orbits the Sun once every approximately 1,150 years. 2014 UZ224 has not yet been imaged by high-resolution telescopes, so it has no known moons. The Hubble Space Telescope is planned to image it in 2026, which should determine if it has any significantly sized moons.

Reader's Guide

2014 UZ224 holds significance as a large, possibly dwarf planet in the scattered disc, and as of 2021 it is the second farthest known object from the Sun with a stable orbit. Its nickname 'DeeDee' reflects its distant nature. The object's orbit brings it to a perihelion of 38 AU in 2142, slightly closer than Pluto's semi-major axis. Its discovery using the Dark Energy Camera highlights the role of survey instruments in finding distant Solar System bodies. The object has not been numbered by the Minor Planet Center as of 2025 due to large orbital uncertainty, and its discoverers retain naming rights for ten years after numbering. Planned Hubble Space Telescope imaging in 2026 may reveal whether it hosts any moons. Its low albedo of 13 percent and estimated diameter of 550–700 km place it among the larger known trans-Neptunian objects, though its status as a dwarf planet remains possible but unconfirmed.

Did You Know?

• 2014 UZ224 is nicknamed 'DeeDee' for 'Distant Dwarf.'
• It was discovered using data from the Dark Energy Camera (DECam).