Physics
Scientific paper
Jul 2001
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001hst..prop.9320v&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #9320
Physics
Hst Proposal Id #9320
Scientific paper
The discovery that the Trans Neptunian Object {TNO} 1998 WW31 has a satellite was announced on IAU Circular 7610 {16th April 2001}. 1998 WW31 has been observed on three HST orbits, thanks to an allocation of DD time. The combination of all the ground based obse rvations and these three high precision HST positions allowed a first determination of the motion of the faint component with resp ect to the primary body. Instead of the circular orbit assumed before the HST observations, we found a highly eccentric orbit whose eccentricity, 0.7, is poorly constrained by the observations, mainly made far from the pericenter. Some models could even accommod ate an eccentricity as high as 0.9. These results will be presented a the AAS DPS meeting on Nov 27 and a paper is being submitted to Nature. A normal proposal has been made for the next cycle, but we now know that the companion will pass at the pericenter betw een January and March of 2002, and the next occurrence will be only in September 2003 {+/- a couple of months with the current uncer tainties}. With a separation of the two components at pericenter close to 0.15", there is no way it can be observed from the ground with any sufficient accuracy. Hubble's unparalleled resolution will enable us to assess the ellipticity of the orbit in a definite way, providing an important constraint to the models proposed for the creation of such a binary system. It is our intent, as soon as our Nature paper is published, to implement an outreach site showing the evolution of our knowledge of the system with the acqu isition of new data from HST and from the ground, as a "case study" demonstrating the "prediction-correction" scheme widely used in science, with the advantage of simple basic physics {Keplerian motion, simple assumptions on physical characteristics like density o r albedo} easily accessible to young students, but still bringing important conclusions on the nature of the objects themselves.
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