Mutual orbits and masses of six transneptunian binaries |
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| Authors: | WM Grundy KS Noll MW Buie SD Benecchi DC Stephens HF Levison |
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| Institution: | aLowell Observatory, 1400 W. Mars Hill Rd., Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA;bSpace Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA;cSouthwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut St. #300, Boulder, CO 80302, USA;dDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University, N283 ESC, Provo, UT 84602, USA |
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| Abstract: | We present Hubble Space Telescope observations of six binary transneptunian systems: 2000 QL251, 2003 TJ58, 2001 XR254, 1999 OJ4, (134860) 2000 OJ67, and 2004 PB108. The mutual orbits of these systems are found to have periods ranging from 22 to 137 days, semimajor axes ranging from 2360 to 10500 km, and eccentricities ranging from 0.09 to 0.55. These orbital parameters enable estimation of system masses ranging from 0.2 to 9.7×1018 kg. For reasonable assumptions of bulk density (0.5 to 2.0 g cm−3), the masses can be combined with visible photometry to constrain sizes and albedos. The resulting albedos are consistent with an emerging picture of the dynamically “Cold” Classical sub-population having relatively high albedos, compared with comparably-sized objects on more dynamically excited orbits. |
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| Keywords: | Kuiper belt Transneptunian objects Hubble Space Telescope observations Satellites of asteroids Orbit determination |
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