The Planetary Science Journal (Jan 2021)
The Sizes and Albedos of Centaurs 2014 YY49 and 2013 NL24 from Stellar Occultation Measurements by RECON
- Ryder H. Strauss,
- Rodrigo Leiva,
- John M. Keller,
- Elizabeth Wilde,
- Marc W. Buie,
- Robert J. Weryk,
- JJ Kavelaars,
- Terry Bridges,
- Lawrence H. Wasserman,
- David E. Trilling,
- Deanna Ainsworth,
- Seth Anthony,
- Robert Baker,
- Jerry Bardecker,
- James K Bean Jr.,
- Stephen Bock,
- Stefani Chase,
- Bryan Dean,
- Chessa Frei,
- Tony George,
- Harnoorat Gill,
- H. Wm. Gimple,
- Rima Givot,
- Samuel E. Hopfe,
- Juan M. Cota Jr.,
- Matthew Kehrli,
- Rebekah King,
- Sean L. Haley,
- Charisma Lara,
- Nels Lund,
- Martin L. Mattes,
- Keitha McCandless,
- Delsie McCrystal,
- Josh McRae,
- Leonardo Emmanuel Rodriguez Melgarejo,
- Paola Mendoza,
- Alexandra Miller,
- Ian R. Norfolk,
- Bruce Palmquist,
- Robert D. Reaves,
- Megan L Rivard,
- Michael von Schalscha,
- Ramsey Schar,
- Timothy J Stoffel,
- Diana J. Swanson,
- Doug Thompson,
- J. A. Wise,
- Levi Woods,
- Yuehai Yang
Affiliations
- Ryder H. Strauss
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder , 2000 Colorado Avenue, Boulder, CO 80309, USA ; [email protected]; Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science, Northern Arizona University , 527 South Beaver Street, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA
- Rodrigo Leiva
- ORCiD
- Southwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut Street, Suite 300, Boulder, CO 80302, USA
- John M. Keller
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder , 2000 Colorado Avenue, Boulder, CO 80309, USA ; [email protected]
- Elizabeth Wilde
- Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder , 2000 Colorado Avenue, Boulder, CO 80309, USA ; [email protected]
- Marc W. Buie
- ORCiD
- Southwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut Street, Suite 300, Boulder, CO 80302, USA
- Robert J. Weryk
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai’i , 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
- JJ Kavelaars
- ORCiD
- National Research Council of Canada, Victoria, BC V9E 2E7, Canada
- Terry Bridges
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Okanagan College, Kelowna, BC, Canada; CanCON, Canadian Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, Canada
- Lawrence H. Wasserman
- ORCiD
- Lowell Observatory, 1400 West Mars Hill Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA
- David E. Trilling
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science, Northern Arizona University , 527 South Beaver Street, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA
- Deanna Ainsworth
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Lake Havasu High School, Lake Havasu City, AZ, USA
- Seth Anthony
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Oregon Institute of Technology, Klamath Falls, OR, USA
- Robert Baker
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Wildwood Institute for STEM Research and Development, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Jerry Bardecker
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; International Occultation Timing Association, USA
- James K Bean Jr.
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Jack C. Davis Observatory, Carson City, NV, USA; Carson High School, Carson City, NV, USA
- Stephen Bock
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA
- Stefani Chase
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Lake Havasu High School, Lake Havasu City, AZ, USA
- Bryan Dean
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA
- Chessa Frei
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Lake Havasu High School, Lake Havasu City, AZ, USA
- Tony George
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; International Occultation Timing Association of North America, Scottsdale, AZ, USA
- Harnoorat Gill
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA
- H. Wm. Gimple
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA
- Rima Givot
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Sisters High School/Sisters Astronomy Club, Sisters, OR, USA
- Samuel E. Hopfe
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; California Polytechnic State University , San Luis Obispo, CA, USA
- Juan M. Cota Jr.
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Calipatria High School, Calipatria, CA, USA
- Matthew Kehrli
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; California Polytechnic State University , San Luis Obispo, CA, USA
- Rebekah King
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA
- Sean L. Haley
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA
- Charisma Lara
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA
- Nels Lund
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Chelan Middle School, Chelan, WA, USA
- Martin L. Mattes
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Central Washington University , Ellensburg, WA, USA
- Keitha McCandless
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Calipatria High School, Calipatria, CA, USA
- Delsie McCrystal
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Sisters High School/Sisters Astronomy Club, Sisters, OR, USA
- Josh McRae
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Central Washington University , Ellensburg, WA, USA
- Leonardo Emmanuel Rodriguez Melgarejo
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Carson High School, Carson City, NV, USA
- Paola Mendoza
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Sisters High School/Sisters Astronomy Club, Sisters, OR, USA
- Alexandra Miller
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA
- Ian R. Norfolk
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Wildwood Institute for STEM Research and Development, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Bruce Palmquist
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Central Washington University , Ellensburg, WA, USA
- Robert D. Reaves
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Arizona Western College, Parker, AZ, USA
- Megan L Rivard
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA
- Michael von Schalscha
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA
- Ramsey Schar
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Sisters High School/Sisters Astronomy Club, Sisters, OR, USA
- Timothy J Stoffel
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA
- Diana J. Swanson
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; California Polytechnic State University , San Luis Obispo, CA, USA
- Doug Thompson
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Arizona Western College, Yuma, AZ, USA
- J. A. Wise
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Wildwood Institute for STEM Research and Development, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Levi Woods
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Jack C. Davis Observatory, Carson City, NV, USA
- Yuehai Yang
- RECON, Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network, USA; Oregon Institute of Technology, Klamath Falls, OR, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/abd62a
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 2,
no. 1
p. 22
Abstract
In 2019, the Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network (RECON) obtained multiple-chord occultation measurements of two Centaur objects: 2014 YY _49 on 2019 January 28 and 2013 NL _24 on 2019 September 4. RECON is a citizen-science telescope network designed to observe high-uncertainty occultations by outer solar system objects. Adopting circular models for the object profiles, we derive a radius $r={16}_{-1}^{+2}$ km and a geometric albedo ${p}_{V}={0.13}_{-0.024}^{+0.015}$ for 2014 YY _49 and a radius $r={66}_{-5}^{+5}$ km and a geometric albedo ${p}_{V}={0.045}_{-0.008}^{+0.006}$ for 2013 NL _24 . To the precision of these measurements, no atmosphere or rings are detected for either object. The two objects measured here are among the smallest distant objects measured with the stellar occultation technique. In addition to these geometric constraints, the occultation measurements provide astrometric constraints for these two Centaurs at a higher precision than has been feasible by direct imaging. To supplement the occultation results, we also present an analysis of color photometry from the Pan-STARRS surveys to constrain the rotational light curve amplitudes and spectral colors of these two Centaurs. We recommend that future work focus on photometry to more deliberately constrain the objects’ colors and light curve amplitudes and on follow-on occultation efforts informed by this astrometry.
Keywords
