47171 Lempo
trans-Neptunian object
47171 Lempo, or as a binary (47171) Lempo–Hiisi (provisional designation 1999 TC36), is a triple trans-Neptunian object in the Kuiper belt, located in the outermost regions of the Solar System. It was discovered on 1 October 1999, by American astronomers Eric Rubenstein and Louis-Gregory Strolger during an observing run at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, United States. Rubenstein was searching images taken by Strolger as part of their Nearby Galaxies Supernova Search project. It is classified as a plutino with a 2:3 mean-motion resonance with Neptune and is among the brighter TNOs. It reached perihelion in July 2015. This minor planet was named after Lempo from Finnish mythology.
The system's other two components, Paha and Hiisi , were discovered in 2001 and 2007, respectively, and later named after Lempo's two demon cohorts, Paha and Hiisi.
History
Discovery
The Lempo system was discovered on 1 October 1999 by American astronomers Eric Rubenstein and Louis-Gregory Strolger during an observing run for their Nearby Galaxies Supernova Search (NGSS) project at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. Initiated in 1998 as part of Strolger's doctoral thesis, the NGSS project was a three-year-long CCD-based survey of galaxies along the celestial equator to search for nearby, low-redshift supernovae. The Kitt Peak Observatory's WIYN 0.9-meter telescope was used for wide-field imaging of this region, which coincided with the ecliptic plane where Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) including Lempo were likely to appear.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “47171 Lempo” as trans-Neptunian object. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as trans-Neptunian object. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q154593. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1999, 2015, 2001 and 2007.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “47171 Lempo” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.