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Elliot JL, Person MJ, Zuluaga CA, et al. Size and albedo of Kuiper belt object 55636 from a stellar occultation. Nature. 2010;465(7300):897-900doi: 10.1038/nature09109.
Elliot, J. L., Person, M. J., Zuluaga, C. A., Bosh, A. S., Adams, E. R., Brothers, T. C., Gulbis, A. A., Levine, S. E., Lockhart, M., Zangari, A. M., Babcock, B. A., Dupré, K., Pasachoff, J. M., Souza, S. P., Rosing, W., Secrest, N., Bright, L., Dunham, E. W., Sheppard, S. S., Kakkala, M., Tilleman, T., Berger, B., Briggs, J. W., Jacobson, G., Valleli, P., Volz, B., Rapoport, S., Hart, R., Brucker, M., Michel, R., Mattingly, A., Zambrano-Marin, L., Meyer, A. W., Wolf, J., Ryan, E. V., Ryan, W. H., Morzinski, K., Grigsby, B., Brimacombe, J., Ragozzine, D., Montano, H. G., & Gilmore, A. (2010). Size and albedo of Kuiper belt object 55636 from a stellar occultation. Nature, 465(7300), 897-900. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09109
Elliot, J L, et al. "Size and albedo of Kuiper belt object 55636 from a stellar occultation." Nature vol. 465,7300 (2010): 897-900. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09109
Elliot JL, Person MJ, Zuluaga CA, Bosh AS, Adams ER, Brothers TC, Gulbis AA, Levine SE, Lockhart M, Zangari AM, Babcock BA, Dupré K, Pasachoff JM, Souza SP, Rosing W, Secrest N, Bright L, Dunham EW, Sheppard SS, Kakkala M, Tilleman T, Berger B, Briggs JW, Jacobson G, Valleli P, Volz B, Rapoport S, Hart R, Brucker M, Michel R, Mattingly A, Zambrano-Marin L, Meyer AW, Wolf J, Ryan EV, Ryan WH, Morzinski K, Grigsby B, Brimacombe J, Ragozzine D, Montano HG, Gilmore A. Size and albedo of Kuiper belt object 55636 from a stellar occultation. Nature. 2010 Jun 17;465(7300):897-900. doi: 10.1038/nature09109. PMID: 20559381.
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Nature. 2010 Jun 17;465(7300):897-900. doi: 10.1038/nature09109.

Size and albedo of Kuiper belt object 55636 from a stellar occultation.

Nature

J L Elliot, M J Person, C A Zuluaga, A S Bosh, E R Adams, T C Brothers, A A S Gulbis, S E Levine, M Lockhart, A M Zangari, B A Babcock, K Dupré, J M Pasachoff, S P Souza, W Rosing, N Secrest, L Bright, E W Dunham, S S Sheppard, M Kakkala, T Tilleman, B Berger, J W Briggs, G Jacobson, P Valleli, B Volz, S Rapoport, R Hart, M Brucker, R Michel, A Mattingly, L Zambrano-Marin, A W Meyer, J Wolf, E V Ryan, W H Ryan, K Morzinski, B Grigsby, J Brimacombe, D Ragozzine, H G Montano, A Gilmore

Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA. [email protected]

PMID: 20559381 DOI: 10.1038/nature09109

Abstract

The Kuiper belt is a collection of small bodies (Kuiper belt objects, KBOs) that lie beyond the orbit of Neptune and which are believed to have formed contemporaneously with the planets. Their small size and great distance make them difficult to study. KBO 55636 (2002 TX(300)) is a member of the water-ice-rich Haumea KBO collisional family. The Haumea family are among the most highly reflective objects in the Solar System. Dynamical calculations indicate that the collision that created KBO 55636 occurred at least 1 Gyr ago. Here we report observations of a multi-chord stellar occultation by KBO 55636, which occurred on 9 October 2009 ut. We find that it has a mean radius of 143 +/- 5 km (assuming a circular solution). Allowing for possible elliptical shapes, we find a geometric albedo of in the V photometric band, which establishes that KBO 55636 is smaller than previously thought and that, like its parent body, it is highly reflective. The dynamical age implies either that KBO 55636 has an active resurfacing mechanism, or that fresh water-ice in the outer Solar System can persist for gigayear timescales.

References

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