Other
Scientific paper
Sep 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.6502o&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #65.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.614
Other
Scientific paper
1999 KW4 is one of several dozen known NEAs whose orbits cross those of Earth, Venus, and Mercury. The asteroid's 2001 approach to within 0.032 AU from Earth was its closest until 2036, and we conducted extended Goldstone and Arecibo radar observations. The Goldstone image sequences provided our longest continuous coverage, while the Arecibo echoes are an order of magnitude stronger. We also obtained a few weaker Arecibo images during the asteroid's more distant approach in June 2002. Our radar images provide a combination of high signal-to-noise ratio, fine spatial resolution, and thorough rotational- and orbital-phase coverage that is unprecedented for astronomical observations of a binary system, and they reveal this NEA to have extraordinary physical and dynamical properties. The foundation of our analyses has been construction of a physical model of each component. The delay-Doppler trajectory of any point on the surface of a rotating rigid body is unique if the radar is not in the target's equatorial plane. Therefore, with a time series of images providing enough echo strength, resolution, and orientational coverage, one can estimate the target's 3D shape and spin state, along with the delay-Doppler location of the center of mass (COM) in each image. For 1999 KW4, the COM locations estimated for each component have been used to estimate (1) the relative orbit of the components with respect to each other, which gives the total mass of the system, and (2) the location of the system's COM on the line connecting the component COMs, which gives the components' mass ratio and hence (given the total system mass and the components' volumes) yields the components densities. Scheeres et al. (DPS 2006) explore the dynamical state of the KW4 system and implications for its formation and evolution.
Bellerose Julie
Benner Lance A.
Broschart Stephen B.
de Jong Eric M.
Fahnestock Eugene G.
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