90482 Orcus objects with a similar size and orbit to that of Pluto are named after underworld deities. Accordingly, the discoverers suggested naming the object after "Orcus", the Etruscan god of the underworld and punisher of broken oaths. He was portrayed in paintings in Etruscan tombs as a hairy, bearded giant. The name was also a private reference to the homonymous Orcas Island, where Brown's wife Diane had lived as a child and that they visit frequently. On March 30, 2005, Orcus's companion, Vanth, was named after a winged female demon of the Etruscan underworld. She could be present at the moment
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