90482 Orcus This means that Orcus is currently viewed pole-on, which could explain the near absence of any rotational modulation of its brightness. If, however, the primary is tidally locked with the satellite, the rotational period will coincide with the 9.7-day orbital period of Vanth. This minor planet was named after one of the Roman gods of the underworld, Orcus. While Pluto was the ruler of the underworld, Orcus was a punisher of the damned. The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 26 November 2004 (). Under the guidelines of the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) naming conventions,
90482 Orcus of death, and frequently acted as a guide of the deceased to the underworld. The absolute magnitude of Orcus is approximately 2.3 (comparable with the 2.6 of cubewano 50000 Quaoar). The detection of Orcus by the Spitzer Space Telescope in the far infrared and by Herschel Space Telescope in submillimeter constrains its diameter to . Orcus appears to have an albedo of about 21% to 25%, which may be typical of trans-Neptunian objects approaching the 1000 km diameter range. In the magnitude and size estimates reported above it was assumed that Orcus is a singular object. The presence of a