Search Publications
(523599) 2003 RM: The Asteroid that Wanted to be a Comet
Granvik, Mikael; Wainscoat, Richard J.; Weryk, Robert +11 more
We report a statistically significant detection of nongravitational acceleration on the subkilometer near-Earth asteroid (523599) 2003 RM. Due to its orbit, 2003 RM experiences favorable observing apparitions every 5 yr. Thus, since its discovery, 2003 RM has been extensively tracked with ground-based optical facilities in 2003, 2008, 2013, and 20…
Sodium Brightening of (3200) Phaethon near Perihelion
Zhang, Qicheng; Knight, Matthew M.; Battams, Karl +2 more
Sunskirting asteroid (3200) Phaethon has been repeatedly observed in Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) Heliospheric Imager 1 (HI1) imagery to anomalously brighten and produce an antisunward tail for a few days near each perihelion passage, phenomena previously attributed to the ejection of micron-sized dust grains. Color imaging by …
Synchronous Rotation in the (136199) Eris-Dysnomia System
Bacon, D.; Smith, M.; Abbott, T. M. C. +48 more
We combine photometry of Eris from a 6 month campaign on the Palomar 60 inch telescope in 2015, a 1 month Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 campaign in 2018, and Dark Energy Survey data spanning 2013-2018 to determine a light curve of definitive period 15.771 ± 0.008 days (1σ formal uncertainties), with nearly sinusoidal shape and peak-to-peak flux vari…
First Detection of CO2 Emission in a Centaur: JWST NIRSpec Observations of 39P/Oterma
Villanueva, G. L.; Faggi, S.; DiSanti, M. A. +9 more
Centaurs are minor solar system bodies with orbits transitioning between those of trans-Neptunian scattered disk objects and Jupiter-family comets (JFCs). 39P/Oterma (39P) is a frequently active centaur that has recently held both centaur and JFC classifications and was observed with the JWST NIRSpec instrument on 2022 July 27 UTC while it was 5.8…
Material around the Centaur (2060) Chiron from the 2018 November 28 UT Stellar Occultation
Bosh, Amanda S.; Person, Michael J.; Levine, Stephen E. +5 more
A stellar occultation of Gaia DR3 2646598228351156352 by the Centaur (2060) Chiron was observed from the South African Astronomical Observatory on 2018 November 28 UT. Here we present a positive detection of material surrounding Chiron from the 74-inch telescope for this event. Additionally, a global atmosphere is ruled out at the tens of microbar…
Detectability of the Yarkovsky Effect in the Main Belt
Tholen, David J.; Farnocchia, Davide; Hung, Denise +1 more
We attempt to detect a signal of Yarkovsky-related acceleration in the orbits of 134 main belt asteroids (MBAs) we observed with the University of Hawai'i 88 inch telescope, supplemented with observations publicly available from the Minor Planet Center and Gaia Data Release 3. We estimated the expected Yarkovsky acceleration values based on parame…
Implications for the Formation of (155140) 2005 UD from a New Convex Shape Model
Fedorets, Grigori; Granvik, Mikael; Kareta, Theodore +15 more
(155140) 2005 UD has a similar orbit to (3200) Phaethon, an active asteroid in a highly eccentric orbit thought to be the source of the Geminid meteor shower. Evidence points to a genetic relationship between these two objects, but we have yet to fully understand how 2005 UD and Phaethon could have separated into this associated pair. Presented he…
The Second International Asteroid Warning Network Timing Campaign: 2005 LW3
Licandro, Javier; Granvik, Mikael; Thuillot, William +90 more
The Earth close approach of near-Earth asteroid 2005 LW3 on 2022 November 23 represented a good opportunity for a second observing campaign to test the timing accuracy of astrometric observation. With 82 participating stations, the International Asteroid Warning Network collected 1046 observations of 2005 LW3 around the time of the close approach.…
The Challenge of Measuring Asteroid Masses with Gaia DR2 Astrometry
Murray, Zachary
The Gaia second data release (DR2) contains high-accuracy astrometric measurements of thousands of solar system bodies. These measurements raise the possibility of determining asteroid masses by modeling scattering events between massive objects observed by Gaia. In this paper, we identify promising encounters between small asteroids that occur du…
Earth-based Stellar Occultation Predictions for Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Titan, and Triton: 2023–2050
French, Richard G.; Souami, Damya
In support of studies of decadal-timescale evolution of outer solar system atmospheres and ring systems, we present detailed Earth-based stellar occultation predictions for Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Titan, and Triton for 2023–2050, based on the Gaia Data Release 3 star catalog and near-IR K-band photometry from the Two Micron All Sky Surve…