provisional designation
Provisional designation in astronomy is the naming convention applied to astronomical objects immediately following their discovery. The provisional designation is usually superseded by a permanent designation once a reliable orbit has been calcu ...
) is a very red
centaur
A centaur ( ; ; ), occasionally hippocentaur, also called Ixionidae (), is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly. In one version o ...
, approximately in diameter, orbiting the Sun in the
outer Solar System
The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sol ...
. It was discovered on 12 October 1998, by American astronomer Nichole Danzl at the
Kitt Peak National Observatory
The Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) is a United States astronomy, astronomical observatory located on Kitt Peak of the Quinlan Mountains in the Arizona-Sonoran Desert on the Tohono Oʼodham Nation, west-southwest of Tucson, Arizona. With ...
near Sells, Arizona, in the United States. It was later named after the mythological centaur
Cyllarus
Cyllarus (Ancient Greek: Κύλλαρος) was a centaur in Greek mythology.
Mythology
The below is mentioned in Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'',
He was handsome and valiant, and dearly loved his centaur wife Hylonome. He participated in the bat ...