Search for asteroidal satellites using adaptive optics

Laird Close; Bill J. Merline; Christophe Dumas; Clark Chapman; Francois Roddier; Francois Menard; D. C. Slater; Gilles Duvert; Chris Shelton; Tom Morgan

Search for asteroidal satellites using adaptive optics

Laird Close, Bill J. Merline, Christophe Dumas, Clark Chapman, Francois Roddier, Francois Menard, D. C. Slater, Gilles Duvert, Chris Shelton, Tom Morgan

Research output: Contribution to journal › Conference article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

We utilized AO to discover a moon around asteroid 45 Eugenia by use of the PUEO AO facility at CFHT. With PUEO we performed a search for asteroidal satellites among two dozen asteroids, achieving moderate Strehl ratios (35%) and FWHM of about 0.12 inch at H band. During this survey, we detected a faint close companion to 45 Eugenia. The satellite was 6.14 magnitudes (at 1.65 μm) fainter and located at most 0.75 inch from Eugenia. Without the ability of AO to sharpen the contrast and increase the resolution to 0.1 inch, the detection of this companion would have been impossible with ground-based telescopes. The companion was found to be in a 1200 km circular orbit with a period of 4.7 days. We discovered that the bulk density of the large (215 km) asteroid 45 Eugenia is a surprisingly low 1.2 g/cm³. This has lead to the exciting possibilities that either this main belt asteroid is a burned out comet or has a hollow `rubble-pile' structure.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	II/-
Journal	Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume	4007
State	Published - 2000
Externally published	Yes
Event	Adaptive Optical Systems Technology - Munich, Ger Duration: Mar 29 2000 → Mar 31 2000

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Condensed Matter Physics
Computer Science Applications
Applied Mathematics
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Cite this

@article{a1e85e48a9c34ffc8acb3da1a2532bbe,

title = "Search for asteroidal satellites using adaptive optics",

abstract = "We utilized AO to discover a moon around asteroid 45 Eugenia by use of the PUEO AO facility at CFHT. With PUEO we performed a search for asteroidal satellites among two dozen asteroids, achieving moderate Strehl ratios (35%) and FWHM of about 0.12 inch at H band. During this survey, we detected a faint close companion to 45 Eugenia. The satellite was 6.14 magnitudes (at 1.65 μm) fainter and located at most 0.75 inch from Eugenia. Without the ability of AO to sharpen the contrast and increase the resolution to 0.1 inch, the detection of this companion would have been impossible with ground-based telescopes. The companion was found to be in a 1200 km circular orbit with a period of 4.7 days. We discovered that the bulk density of the large (215 km) asteroid 45 Eugenia is a surprisingly low 1.2 g/cm3. This has lead to the exciting possibilities that either this main belt asteroid is a burned out comet or has a hollow `rubble-pile' structure.",

author = "Laird Close and Merline, {Bill J.} and Christophe Dumas and Clark Chapman and Francois Roddier and Francois Menard and Slater, {D. C.} and Gilles Duvert and Chris Shelton and Tom Morgan",

year = "2000",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "4007",

pages = "II/--",

journal = "Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering",

issn = "0277-786X",

publisher = "SPIE",

note = "Adaptive Optical Systems Technology ; Conference date: 29-03-2000 Through 31-03-2000",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Search for asteroidal satellites using adaptive optics

AU - Close, Laird

AU - Merline, Bill J.

AU - Dumas, Christophe

AU - Chapman, Clark

AU - Roddier, Francois

AU - Menard, Francois

AU - Slater, D. C.

AU - Duvert, Gilles

AU - Shelton, Chris

AU - Morgan, Tom

PY - 2000

Y1 - 2000

N2 - We utilized AO to discover a moon around asteroid 45 Eugenia by use of the PUEO AO facility at CFHT. With PUEO we performed a search for asteroidal satellites among two dozen asteroids, achieving moderate Strehl ratios (35%) and FWHM of about 0.12 inch at H band. During this survey, we detected a faint close companion to 45 Eugenia. The satellite was 6.14 magnitudes (at 1.65 μm) fainter and located at most 0.75 inch from Eugenia. Without the ability of AO to sharpen the contrast and increase the resolution to 0.1 inch, the detection of this companion would have been impossible with ground-based telescopes. The companion was found to be in a 1200 km circular orbit with a period of 4.7 days. We discovered that the bulk density of the large (215 km) asteroid 45 Eugenia is a surprisingly low 1.2 g/cm3. This has lead to the exciting possibilities that either this main belt asteroid is a burned out comet or has a hollow `rubble-pile' structure.

AB - We utilized AO to discover a moon around asteroid 45 Eugenia by use of the PUEO AO facility at CFHT. With PUEO we performed a search for asteroidal satellites among two dozen asteroids, achieving moderate Strehl ratios (35%) and FWHM of about 0.12 inch at H band. During this survey, we detected a faint close companion to 45 Eugenia. The satellite was 6.14 magnitudes (at 1.65 μm) fainter and located at most 0.75 inch from Eugenia. Without the ability of AO to sharpen the contrast and increase the resolution to 0.1 inch, the detection of this companion would have been impossible with ground-based telescopes. The companion was found to be in a 1200 km circular orbit with a period of 4.7 days. We discovered that the bulk density of the large (215 km) asteroid 45 Eugenia is a surprisingly low 1.2 g/cm3. This has lead to the exciting possibilities that either this main belt asteroid is a burned out comet or has a hollow `rubble-pile' structure.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0033699650&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0033699650&partnerID=8YFLogxK

M3 - Conference article

AN - SCOPUS:0033699650

SN - 0277-786X

VL - 4007

SP - II/-

JO - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

JF - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

T2 - Adaptive Optical Systems Technology

Y2 - 29 March 2000 through 31 March 2000

ER -

Search for asteroidal satellites using adaptive optics

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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