28978 Ixion

28978 Ixion

28978 Ixion is a Kuiper belt object discovered in 2001 with a diameter of approximately 1055 km and a mean orbital radius of 39.31 AU. Ixion is a Plutino: it has a 3:2 orbital resonance with Neptune.

Little is known about Ixion. The latest spectroscopy results indicate that it has a surface that is a mixture of dark carbon and tholin, which is a heteropolymer formed by irradiation of clathrates of water and organic compounds (such as methane or ethane).

28978 Ixion is named after Ixion, a figure from Greek mythology.

Reference

Pre-print about Ixion's surface from the Planetary Systems Research group of the University of Helsinki.