English

Size and shape of Chariklo from multi-epoch stellar occultations

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics 2017-09-26 v1

Abstract

We use data from five stellar occultations observed between 2013 and 2016 to constrain Chariklo's size and shape, and the ring reflectivity. We consider four possible models for Chariklo (sphere, Maclaurin spheroid, tri-axial ellipsoid and Jacobi ellipsoid) and we use a Bayesian approach to estimate the corresponding parameters. The spherical model has a radius R=129±3R=129\pm3 km. The Maclaurin model has equatorial and polar radii a=b=1436+3a=b=143^{+3}_{-6} km and c=964+14c=96^{+14}_{-4} km, respectively, with density 970180+300970^{+300}_{-180} kg m3^{-3}. The ellipsoidal model has semiaxes a=1484+6a=148^{+6}_{-4} km, b=1325+6b=132^{+6}_{-5} km and c=1028+10c=102^{+10}_{-8} km. Finally, the Jacobi model has semiaxes aa=157±\pm4 km, bb=139±\pm 4 km and cc=86±\pm1 km, and density 7964+2796^{+2}_{-4} kg m3^{-3} . Depending on the model, we obtain topographic features of 6-11 km, typical of Saturn icy satellites with similar size and density. We constrain Chariklo's geometric albedo between 3.1\% (sphere) and 4.9\% (ellipsoid), while the ring I/FI/F reflectivity is less constrained between 0.6\% (Jacobi) and 8.9\% (sphere). The ellipsoid model explains both the optical light curve and the long-term photometry variation of the system, giving a plausible value for the geometric albedo of the ring particles of 1015%10-15\%. The derived Chariklo's mass of 6-8×1018\times10^{18} kg places the rings close to the 3:1 resonance between the ring mean motion and Chariklo's rotation period.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1708.08934,
  title  = {Size and shape of Chariklo from multi-epoch stellar occultations},
  author = {R Leiva and B Sicardy and J I B Camargo and J -L Ortiz and J Desmars and D Bérard and E Lellouch and E Meza and P Kervella and C Snodgrass and R Duffard and N Morales and A R Gomes-Júnior and G Benedetti-Rossi and R Vieira-Martins and F Braga-Ribas and M Assafin and B E Morgado and F Colas and C De Witt and A A Sickafoose and H Breytenbach and J -L Dauvergne and P Schoenau and L Maquet and K L Bath and H J Bode and A Cool and B Lade and S Kerr and D Herald},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1708.08934},
  year   = {2017}
}

Comments

Accepted for publication in AJ