1. The large trans-Neptunian object 2002 TC 302 from combined stellar occultation, photometry, and astrometry data
- Author
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G. Scarfi, T. Pribulla, J. C. Guirado, L. Buzzi, Grzegorz Dudziński, A. Farkas-Takács, L. Mazzei, E. Meza, A. Aletti, J. M. Christille, C. Perelló, L. Morrone, V. Peris, Valerio Nascimbeni, J. Lecacheux, J. M. Madiedo, Rene Duffard, F. Mancini, Bruno Sicardy, J. Alikakos, Vassilis Charmandaris, Cs. Kiss, M. Conjat, Raoul Behrend, R. Komžík, Frédéric Vachier, Martina Maestripieri, J. Skvarc, Paolo Bacci, T. G. Mueller, Domenico Nardiello, R. Iglesias-Marzoa, F. Colas, Aleksandar Cikota, András Pál, N. Paschalis, R. Szakats, A. Campo Bagatin, P. J. Gutierrez, Giacomo Succi, Pablo Santos-Sanz, A. R. Gomes-Júnior, Gábor Marton, M. Butkiewicz-Bak, E. Varga-Verebélyi, M. Masucci, Estela Fernández-Valenzuela, V. Tsamis, Victor Ali-Lagoa, Felipe Braga-Ribas, M. Alighieri, Roberto Vieira-Martins, F. Manzano, Julio Camargo, E. Dal Canto, S. Hellmich, F. Roques, A. Vecchione, A. Navarro, Stefano Mottola, A. Noschese, Albino Carbognani, F. Lavalade, Josselin Desmars, Mónica Vara-Lubiano, Nora Morales, C. Schnabel, Mauro Bachini, Kosmas Gazeas, J. M. Mari, Przemyslaw Bartczak, W. Beisker, S. Sposetti, F. Ciabattari, A. Alvarez-Candal, Stefan Cikota, J. L. Ortiz, Marcelo Assafin, A. Marciniak, G. Benedetti-Rossi, H. Mikuz, Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Física, Ingeniería de Sistemas y Teoría de la Señal, Universidad de Alicante. Instituto Universitario de Investigación Informática, Astronomía y Astrofísica, European Commission, Junta de Andalucía, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España), European Research Council, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (Brasil), Fundações de Amparo à Pesquisa (Brasil), National Research, Development and Innovation Office (Hungary), Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, IAA-CSIC, Université de Paris, Laboratório Interinstitucional de E-Astronomia - LIneA, Federal University of Technology-Paraná (UTFPR / DAFIS), Observatório Nacional/MCTIC, University of Central Florida, 'G. Galilei' Universita Degli Studi di Padova, INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, LAM, INAF - Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza Dello Spazio, Schiaparelli Astronomical Observatory, Astronomical Observatory San Marcello Pistoiese CARA Project, Crni Vrh Observatory, University of Ljubljana, Osservatorio Astronomico di Monte Agliale, 55 Impasse de la Marjolaine, Observatorio Astronomico Iota-Scorpii, 1075 Avenue Saint Philippe, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Gnosca Observatory, Osservatorio Astronomico di Tavolaia, 63 Boulevard de Brandebourg, UPMC Univ Paris 06, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), International Occultation Timing Association - European Section (IOTA-ES), Observatoire de Geneve, Max Planck Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik (MPE), Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Institute of Planetary Research, Universidad de Alicante, Unversidad de Alicante, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, E.O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Astronomical Observatory of the Autonomous Region of the Aosta Valley (OAVdA), Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Institute of Physics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, MTA-ELTE Exoplanet Research Group, ELTE Gothard Astrophysical Observatory, National Observatory of Athens, University of Crete, Faculty of Science, A. Mickiewicz University, Nunki Observatory, Ellinogermaniki Agogi Observatory, Universidad de Valencia, Centro de Estudios de Física Del Cosmos de Aragón, Universidad de la Laguna, Agrupació Astronómica de Sabadell, Osservatorio Salvatore di Giacomo, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [Madrid] (CSIC), Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA (UMR_8109)), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Paris (UP), Observatorio Nacional [Rio de Janeiro], Universidad Politécnica Salesiana [Quito], Observatório Nacional/MCT, Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Ephémérides (IMCCE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Lille-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique = Laboratory of Space Studies and Instrumentation in Astrophysics (LESIA), and Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité)
- Subjects
Absolute magnitude ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,FOS: Physical sciences ,Astrophysics ,Kuiper belt objects: individual: 2002 TC302 ,01 natural sciences ,Occultation ,law.invention ,Telescope ,Photometry (optics) ,law ,Geometric albedo ,Física Aplicada ,0103 physical sciences ,Trans-Neptunian object ,010303 astronomy & astrophysics ,ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Physics ,[PHYS]Physics [physics] ,Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP) ,photometric [Techniques] ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,general [Kuiper belt] ,Astrometry ,individual: 2002 TC302 [Kuiper belt objects] ,Kuiper belt: general ,Occultations ,Techniques: photometric ,Light curve ,Space and Planetary Science ,[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] ,[PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph] ,Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics - Abstract
All authors: Ortiz, J. L.; Santos-Sanz, P.; Sicardy, B.; Benedetti-Rossi, G.; Duffard, R.; Morales, N.; Braga-Ribas, F.; Fernández-Valenzuela, E.; Nascimbeni, V.; Nardiello, D.; Carbognani, A.; Buzzi, L.; Aletti, A.; Bacci, P.; Maestripieri, M.; Mazzei, L.; Mikuz, H.; Skvarc, J.; Ciabattari, F.; Lavalade, F. Scarfi, G.; Mari, J. M.; Conjat, M.; Sposetti, S.; Bachini, M.; Succi, G.; Mancini, F.; Alighieri, M.; Dal Canto, E.; Masucci, M.; Vara-Lubiano, M.; Gutiérrez, P. J.; Desmars, J.; Lecacheux, J.; Vieira-Martins, R.; Camargo, J. I. B.; Assafin, M.; Colas, F.; Beisker, W.; Behrend, R.; Mueller, T. G.; Meza, E.; Gomes-Junior, A. R.; Roques, F.; Vachier, F.; Mottola, S.; Hellmich, S.; Campo Bagatin, A.; Alvarez-Candal, A.; Cikota, S.; Cikota, A.; Christille, J. M.; Pál, A.; Kiss, C.; Pribulla, T.; Komžík, R.; Madiedo, J. M.; Charmandaris, V.; Alikakos, J.; Szakáts, R.; Farkas-Takács, A.; Varga-Verebélyi, E.; Marton, G.; Marciniak, A.; Bartczak, P.; Butkiewicz-Baķ, M.; Dudziński, G.; Alí-Lagoa, V.; Gazeas, K.; Paschalis, N.; Tsamis, V.; Guirado, J. C.; Peris, V.; Iglesias-Marzoa, R.; Schnabel, C.; Manzano, F.; Navarro, A.; Perelló, C.; Vecchione, A.; Noschese, A.; Morrone, L., Context. Deriving physical properties of trans-Neptunian objects is important for the understanding of our Solar System. This requires observational efforts and the development of techniques suitable for these studies. Aims. Our aim is to characterize the large trans-Neptunian object (TNO) 2002 TC302. Methods. Stellar occultations offer unique opportunities to determine key physical properties of TNOs. On 28 January 2018, 2002 TC302 occulted a mv ∼ 15.3 star with designation 593-005847 in the UCAC4 stellar catalog, corresponding to Gaia source 130957813463146112. Twelve positive occultation chords were obtained from Italy, France, Slovenia, and Switzerland. Also, four negative detections were obtained near the north and south limbs. This represents the best observed stellar occultation by a TNO other than Pluto in terms of the number of chords published thus far. From the 12 chords, an accurate elliptical fit to the instantaneous projection of the body can be obtained that is compatible with the near misses. Results. The resulting ellipse has major and minor axes of 543 ± 18 km and 460 ± 11 km, respectively, with a position angle of 3 ± 1 degrees for the minor axis. This information, combined with rotational light curves obtained with the 1.5 m telescope at Sierra Nevada Observatory and the 1.23 m telescope at Calar Alto observatory, allows us to derive possible three-dimensional shapes and density estimations for the body based on hydrostatic equilibrium assumptions. The effective diameter in equivalent area is around 84 km smaller than the radiometrically derived diameter using thermal data from Herschel and Spitzer Space Telescopes. This might indicate the existence of an unresolved satellite of up to ∼300 km in diameter, which is required to account for all the thermal flux, although the occultation and thermal diameters are compatible within their error bars given the considerable uncertainty of the thermal results. The existence of a potential satellite also appears to be consistent with other ground-based data presented here. From the effective occultation diameter combined with absolute magnitude measurements we derive a geometric albedo of 0.147 ± 0.005, which would be somewhat smaller if 2002 TC302 has a satellite. The best occultation light curves do not show any signs of ring features or any signatures of a global atmosphere. © ESO 2020., This research was partially based on data taken at the Sierra Nevada Observatory, which is operated by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (CSIC). This research is also partially based on data taken at the German-Spanish Calar Alto observatory, which is jointly operated by the Max Planck Institute fur Astronomie and the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (CSIC). Part of the results were also based on observations taken at the 1.6m telescope on Pico dos Dias Observatory. This research was partially based on observations collected at the Schmidt telescope 67/92 cm (Asiago, Italy) of the INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova. Funding from Spanish projects AYA2014-56637-C2-1-P, AYA2017-89637-R, from FEDER, and Proyecto de Excelencia de la Junta de Andalucia 2012-FQM1776 is acknowledged. We would like to acknowledge financial support by the Spanish grant AYA-RTI2018-098657-JI00 "LEO-SBNAF" (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE) and the financial support from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish MCIU through the "Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa" award for the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (SEV- 2017-0709). Part of the research received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, under grant agreement no. 687378 and from the ERC programme under Grant Agreement no. 669416 Lucky Star. The following authors acknowledge the respective CNPq grants: FB-R 309578/2017-5; RV-M 304544/2017-5, 401903/2016-8; J.I.B.C. 308150/2016-3; MA 427700/2018-3, 310683/2017-3, 473002/2013-2. This study was financed in part by the CoordenacAo de Aperfeiacoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001 and the National Institute of Science and Technology of the e-Universe project (INCT do e-Universo, CNPq grant 465376/2014-2). GBR acknowledges CAPES-FAPERJ/PAPDRJ grant E26/203.173/2016, MA FAPERJ grant E-26/111.488/2013 and ARGJr FAPESP grant 2018/11239-8. E.F.-V. acknowledges support from the 2017 Preeminent Postdoctoral Program (P3) at UCF. C.K., R.S., A.F-T., and G.M. have been supported by the K-125015 and GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016-00003 grants of the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH), Hungary. G.M. was also supported by the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH) grant PD-128 360. R.K. and T.P. were supported by the VEGA 2/0031/18 grant. We acknowledge the use of Occult software by D. Herald.
- Published
- 2020
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