Photometry of a Kuiper Belt object: 2002 CC_249_

DOI

Images of the Kuiper Belt object (126719) 2002 CC_249_ obtained in 2016 and 2017 using the 6.5 m Magellan-Baade Telescope and the 4.3 m Discovery Channel Telescope are presented. A light curve with a periodicity of 11.87+/-0.01 hr and a peak-to-peak amplitude of 0.79+/-0.04 mag is reported. This high amplitude double-peaked light curve can be due to a single elongated body, but it is best explained by a contact binary system from its U-/V-shaped light curve. We present a simple full-width-at-half-maximum test that can be used to determine if an object is likely a contact binary or an elongated object based on its light curve. Considering that 2002 CC_249_ is in hydrostatic equilibrium, a system with a mass ratio q_min_=0.6, and a density {rho}min=1 g/cm^3^, or less plausible a system with q_max_=1, and {rho}max=5 g/cm^3^ can interpret the light curve. Assuming a single Jacobi ellipsoid in hydrostatic equilibrium and an equatorial view, we estimate {rho}>=0.34 g/cm^3^, and a/b=2.07. Finally, we report a new color study showing that 2002 CC_249_ displays an ultra red surface characteristic of a dynamically Cold Classical trans-Neptunian object.

Identifier
DOI http://doi.org/10.26093/cds/vizier.51540241
Source https://dc.g-vo.org/rr/q/lp/custom/CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/154/241
Related Identifier https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/AJ/154/241
Related Identifier https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/AJ/154/241
Metadata Access http://dc.g-vo.org/rr/q/pmh/pubreg.xml?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_b2find&identifier=ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/154/241
Provenance
Creator Thirouin A.; Sheppard S.S.
Publisher CDS
Publication Year 2018
Rights https://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.html
OpenAccess true
Contact CDS support team <cds-question(at)unistra.fr>
Representation
Resource Type Dataset; AstroObjects
Discipline Astrophysics and Astronomy; Natural Sciences; Observational Astronomy; Physics; Solar System Astronomy