English

The trans-Neptunian object (84922) 2003 VS2 through stellar occultations

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics 2019-10-09 v1

Abstract

We present results from three world-wide campaigns that resulted in the detections of two single-chord and one multi-chord stellar occultations by the Plutino object (84922) 2003~VS2_2. From the single-chord occultations in 2013 and 2014 we obtained accurate astrometric positions for the object, while from the multi-chord occultation on November 7th, 2014, we obtained the parameters of the best-fitting ellipse to the limb of the body at the time of occultation. We also obtained short-term photometry data for the body in order to derive its rotational phase during the occultation. The rotational light curve present a peak-to-peak amplitude of 0.141 ±\pm 0.009 mag. This allows us to reconstruct the three-dimensional shape of the body, with principal semi-axes a=313.8±7.1a = 313.8 \pm 7.1 km, b=265.59.8+8.8b = 265.5^{+8.8}_{-9.8} km, and c=247.343.6+26.6c = 247.3^{+26.6}_{-43.6} km, which is not consistent with a Jacobi triaxial equilibrium figure. The derived spherical volume equivalent diameter of 548.344.6+29.5548.3 ^{+29.5}_{-44.6} km is about 5\% larger than the radiometric diameter of 2003~VS2_2 derived from Herschel data of 523±35523 \pm 35 km, but still compatible with it within error bars. From those results we can also derive the geometric albedo (0.1230.014+0.0150.123 ^{+0.015}_{-0.014}) and, under the assumption that the object is a Maclaurin spheroid, the density ρ=1400300+1000\rho = 1400^{+1000}_{-300} for the plutino. The disappearances and reappearances of the star during the occultations do not show any compelling evidence for a global atmosphere considering a pressure upper limit of about 1 microbar for a pure nitrogen atmosphere, nor secondary features (e.g. rings or satellite) around the main body.

Cite

@article{arxiv.1908.06645,
  title  = {The trans-Neptunian object (84922) 2003 VS2 through stellar occultations},
  author = {Gustavo Benedetti-Rossi and P. Santos-Sanz and J. L. Ortiz and M. Assafin and B. Sicardy and N. Morales and R. Vieira-Martins and R. Duffard and F. Braga-Ribas and F. L. Rommel and J. I. B. Camargo and J. Desmars and A. F. Colas and F. Vachier and Alvarez-Candal and E. Fernández-Valenzuela and L. Almenares and R. Artola and T. -P. Baum and R. Behrend and D. Bérard and F. Bianco and N. Brosch and A. Ceretta and C. A. Colazo and A. R. Gomes-Junior and V. D. Ivanov and E. Jehin and S. Kaspi and J. Lecacheux and A. Maury and R. Melia and S. Moindrot and B. Morgado and C. Opitom and A. Peyrot and J. Pollock and A. Pratt and S. Roland and J. Spagnotto and G. Tancredi and J. -P. Teng and P. Cacella and M. Emilio and F. Feys and R. Gil-Hutton and C. Jacques and D. I. Machado and M. Malacarne and I. Manulis and A. C. Milone and G. Rojas and R. Sfair},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1908.06645},
  year   = {2019}
}

Comments

22 pages, 14 figures, 1 appendix

R2 v1 2026-06-23T10:50:37.294Z