599040

599040 is a numerical identifier that appears in various contexts, most notably within the field of astronomy and space exploration. It is primarily associated with the designation of an asteroid discovered in the outer regions of the solar system. The object, officially named **2002 GB32**, was first observed on April 15, 2002, by astronomers at the Mauna Kea Observatories in Hawaii. The designation 599040 is not its official name but rather a provisional identifier used in the Minor Planet Center’s database, which catalogs small solar system bodies like asteroids and comets.

This asteroid belongs to the scattered disk, a region beyond the orbit of Neptune populated by icy bodies influenced by the gravitational pull of the gas giants. Its orbit is highly elliptical, with a semi-major axis of approximately 100 astronomical units (AU), meaning it spends much of its time far from the Sun. The object is classified as a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) and may be a member of the scattered disk population, which includes some of the most distant known bodies in the solar system.

Due to its distance and faintness, 599040 has not been extensively studied, and little is known about its physical properties, such as size or composition. Its discovery contributed to the growing understanding of the outer solar system’s structure and the dynamics of objects beyond Neptune. The Minor Planet Center continues to track its orbit as part of broader efforts to monitor potentially hazardous or scientifically significant celestial bodies.