Yukun Huang  ホワン ユウクン

Welcome to my academic homepage. I am currently a Project Research Fellow at CfCA NAOJ, working with Prof. Eiichiro Kokubo. My research interests span a broad array of topics within dynamical astronomy. These include celestial mechanics, Kuiper Belt objects, and the formation and evolution history of the Solar System.

I completed my PhD from UBC Dept. of Physics & Astronomy under the guidance of Prof. Brett Gladman in 2023. Prior to this, I achieved my Master’s degree in astrodynamics with distinction from Tsinghua University in 2019.

You can find me in other places like Google Scholar and ADS.

updates

Jul 18, 2025 🚀 We found a new Sednoid! The discovery of「2023 KQ14」(nicknamed「Ammonite」) suggests a primordial alignment that could be linked to a lost rogue planet in the past. Check out our Nature Astronomy paper for more details.
Mar 27, 2025 Our recent paper on the formation of dwarf planets by pebble accretion has been published in A&A

selected publications

  1. Nat Astron
    Discovery and dynamics of a Sedna-like object with a perihelion of 66 au
    Chen, Y.-T.Lykawka, P. S.,  and Huang, Yukun
    Nature Astronomy 2025
  2. Nat Astron
    Asteroid (469219) Kamo‘oalewa’s Journey from Lunar Crater Giordano Bruno to Earth 1:1 Resonance
    Jiao, Y., Bin, C.,  Huang, Yukun,  Asphaug, E. and 5 more authors
    Nature Astronomy 2024
  3. ApJL
    Primordial Orbital Alignment of Sednoids
    Huang, Yukun,  and Gladman, B.
    Astrophysical Journal Letters 2024
  4. ApJL
    A Rogue Planet Helps Populate the Distant Kuiper Belt
    Huang, YukunGladman, B.Beaudoin, M.,  and Zhang, K.
    Astrophysical Journal Letters 2022