(24835) 1995 SM55

is an icy trans-Neptunian object and member of the Haumea family that resides in the Kuiper belt, located in the outermost region of the Solar System. It was discovered on 19 September 1995, by American astronomer Nichole Danzl of the Spacewatch program at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. Stellar occultation observations in 2025 show that it has highly reflective surface and a diameter of about. This highly reflective surface is typical for Haumea family Kuiper belt objects, which are believed to be icy fragments of the dwarf planet Haumea.

Origin

has a high geometric albedo of 0.80 in visible light and a similar orbit to the dwarf planet Haumea, which means that it must be a member of the Haumea family. The Haumea family is a population of bright, water ice-rich Kuiper belt objects that are believed to have broken off from Haumea after a giant collision over 4 billion years ago. Members of the Haumea family include,, and. Based on the differences between the orbits of and Haumea, the object was likely ejected from the dwarf planet at a relatively high speed of 123.3 m/s.

Physical characteristics

Because has a high albedo, it appears much brighter than other Kuiper belt objects. Because its high brightness, astronomers initially believed that could have a very large size, with a diameter up to if it had a dark, low-albedo surface. However, further analysis of 's thermal emission and orbit showed that it should be much smaller with a more reflective surface.
On 25 February 2024, passed in front of a star and occulted it. This stellar occultation was observed by numerous astronomers at 40 different locations, with 7 of them reporting positive detections of the occultation. The occultation observations revealed that is a roughly elliptical object that is in diameter.

Naming

As of January 2025, this minor planet has not been named by the Minor Planet Center.
Suggestions for names are open to the public.