Short-term rotational variability of eight KBOs from Sierra Nevada Observatory

Ortiz, J. L.; Gutiérrez, P. J.; Santos-Sanz, P.; Casanova, V.; Sota, A.

doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20053572

Cited by 43 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Concerning the photometry results, the nature of the ∼10 h short-term variability of low amplitude reported in Ortiz et al (2006) and Thirouin et al (2010) (with very high significance levels) is difficult to asses. We investigated whether this variability is also seen in the present data, but neither the precision nor the observing windows were appropriate to study a very low amplitude short term variability of around 10 h. However, in the periodogram of Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…If the short-term variability in Ortiz et al (2006) and Thirouin et al (2010) is indeed not an artifact, it might be revealing the primary's spin period (or half its spin period if the variability is caused by shape), which could be different to that of the satellite. A variability of the amplitude ≤0.04 mag in the primary is below the average 0.1 mag amplitude of the large TNOs whose short term variability has been studied Duffard et al 2009), but the largest TNOs have even smaller variability than the average because there is a well identified size-dependence (Trilling & Bernstein 2006;Sheppard et al 2008;Thirouin et al 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The relative photometry was obtained by following a similar approach to that in Ortiz et al (2006), although with some improvements as described in Thirouin et al (2010). The positions of 20 reference stars used for the relative photometry are also marked in Fig.…”

Section: Observations and Reductionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Also, its short term variability was studied in Ortiz et al (2006) who found a likely rotation period of 10.08 h (although periods at around 7 h and 17 h were also possible). Later, Thirouin et al (2010) included more data, obtaining a rotation period of 10.47 h. In both works the variability was very low (≤0.04 mag).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A mid-term astrometric and photometric study of trans-Neptunian object (90482) Orcus

Ortiz

Cikota

et al. 2010

A&A

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From time series CCD observations of a fixed and large star field that contained the binary trans-Neptunian object (90482) Orcus (formerly 2004 DW), taken during a period of 33 days, we have been able to derive high-precision relative astrometry and photometry of the Orcus system with respect to background stars. The right ascension residuals of an orbital fit to the astrometric data revealed a periodicity of 9.7 ± 0.3 days, which is what one would expect to be induced by the known Orcus companion (Vanth). The residuals are also correlated with the theoretical positions of the satellite with regard to the primary. We therefore have revealed the presence of Orcus' satellite in our astrometric measurements, although the residuals in declination did not show the expected variations. The oscillation in the residuals is caused by the photocenter motion of the combined Orcus plus satellite system around the barycenter along an orbital revolution of the satellite. The photocenter motion is much larger than the motion of Orcus around the barycenter, and we show here that detecting some binaries through a carefully devised astrometric technique might be feasible with telescopes of moderate size. We discuss the prospects for using the technique to find new binary trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) and to study already known binary systems with uncertain orbital periods. We also analyzed the system's mid-term photometry in order to determine whether the rotation could be tidally locked to the satellite's orbital period. We found that a photometric variability of 9.7 ± 0.3 days is clear in our data, and is nearly coincident with the orbital period of the satellite. We believe this variability might be induced by the satellite's rotation. In our photometry there is also a slight hint for an additional very small variability in the 10 h range that was already reported in the literature. This short-term variability would indicate that the primary is not tidally locked and therefore the system would not have reached a double synchronous state. Implications for the basic physical properties of the primary and its satellite are discussed. From angular momentum considerations we suspect that the Orcus satellite might have formed from a rotational fission. This requires that the mass of the satellite would be around 0.09 times that of the primary, close to the value that one derives by using an albedo of 0.12 for the satellite and assuming equal densities for both the primary and secondary.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Observations and Reductionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A mid-term astrometric and photometric study of trans-Neptunian object (90482) Orcus

Ortiz

Cikota

et al. 2010

A&A

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“…comm. ); (x) Ortiz et al (2006); (y) Thirouin et al (2010); (z) Sheppard & Jewitt (2003); (α) Ortiz et al (2003); (β) Duffard et al (2008); (γ) Roe et al (2008); (δ) Grundy et al (2007); ( ) Brown & Schaller (2007); (ζ) Noll et al (2009). of each leg is 3.0 . Each such scan-map is repeated two to five times, depending on the expected brightness of the objects (see below).…”

Section: Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“TNOs are Cool”: A survey of the trans-Neptunian region

Santos-Sanz

Lellouch

Fornasier

et al. 2012

A&A

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Context. Physical characterization of trans-Neptunian objects, a primitive population of the outer solar system, may provide constraints on their formation and evolution. Aims. The goal of this work is to characterize a set of 15 scattered disk (SDOs) and detached objects, in terms of their size, albedo, and thermal properties. Methods. Thermal flux measurements obtained with the Herschel-PACS instrument at 70, 100 and 160 μm, and whenever applicable, with Spitzer-MIPS at 24 and 70 μm, are modeled with radiometric techniques, in order to derive the objects' individual size, albedo and when possible beaming factor. Error bars are obtained from a Monte-Carlo approach. We look for correlations between these and other physical and orbital parameters. Results. Diameters obtained for our sample range from 100 to 2400 km, and the geometric albedos (in V band) vary from 3.8% to 84.5%. The unweighted mean V geometric albedo for the whole sample is 11.2% (excluding Eris); 6.9% for the SDOs, and 17.0% for the detached objects (excluding Eris). We obtain new bulk densities for three binary systems: Ceto/Phorcys, Typhon/Echidna and Eris/Dysnomia. Apart from correlations clearly due to observational bias, we find significant correlations between albedo and diameter (more reflective objects being bigger), and between albedo, diameter and perihelion distance (brighter and bigger objects having larger perihelia). We discuss possible explanations for these correlations.

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Photometry of Centaurs and trans-Neptunian objects: 2060 Chiron (1977 UB), 10199 Chariklo (1997 CU26), 38628 Huya (2000 EB173), 28978 Ixion (2001 KX76), and 90482 Orcus (2004 DW)

Galiazzo

Marcos²,

Marcos³

et al. 2016

Astrophys Space Sci

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Both Centaurs and trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) are minor bodies found in the outer Solar System. Centaurs are a transient population that moves between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune, and they probably diffused out of the TNOs. TNOs move mainly beyond Neptune. Some of these objects display episodic cometary behaviour; a few percent of them are known to host binary companions. Here, we study the lightcurves of two Centaurs -2060 Chiron (1977 periodogram analysis of the light-curves of these objects gives the following rotational periods: 5.5±0.4 h for Chiron, 7.0±0.6 h for Chariklo, 4.45±0.07 h for Huya, 12.4±0.3 h for Ixion, and 11.9±0.5 h for Orcus. The colour indices of Chiron are found to be B − V = 0.53 ± 0.05, V − R = 0.37 ± 0.08, and R − I = 0.36 ± 0.15. The values computed for Chariklo are V − R = 0.62 ± 0.07 and R − I = 0.61 ± 0.07. For Huya, we find V − R = 0.58 ± 0.09 and R − I = 0.64 ± 0.20. Our rotation periods are similar to and our colour values are consistent with those already published for these objects. We find very low levels of cometary activity (if any) and no sign of close or wide binary companions for these minor bodies.

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Short-term rotational variability of eight KBOs from Sierra Nevada Observatory

Cited by 43 publications

References 35 publications

A mid-term astrometric and photometric study of trans-Neptunian object (90482) Orcus

A mid-term astrometric and photometric study of trans-Neptunian object (90482) Orcus

“TNOs are Cool”: A survey of the trans-Neptunian region

Photometry of Centaurs and trans-Neptunian objects: 2060 Chiron (1977 UB), 10199 Chariklo (1997 CU26), 38628 Huya (2000 EB173), 28978 Ixion (2001 KX76), and 90482 Orcus (2004 DW)

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