The Minor Planet Bulletin BULLETIN OF THE MINOR PLANETS SECTION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF LUNAR AND PLANETARY OBSERVERS
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The Minor Planet Bulletin is the journal for almost all amateurs and even some professionals for publishing
asteroid photometry results, including lightcurves, H-G parameters, color indexes, and shape/spin axis models.
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See the announcement in Minor Planet Bulletin51-2.
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*7.2,13.7.
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Photometric observations of three main-belt asteroids that were obtained from May through July 2021 were made from Malta in order to determine their synodic rotation periods. For 2229 Mezzarco we found a period of 10.241 ± 0.003 h, amplitude 0.55 mag. For 3648 Raffinetti the results show a period of 5.177 ± 0.001 h and 0.47 mag. and for 3919 Maryanning we report a period of 7.094 ± 0.001 h with an amplitude of 0.70 mag.
A New Satellite of 4337 Arecibo Detected and Confirmed by stellar Occultation
Two observers in Australia, at two separate sites observed asteroid 4337 Arecibo occult UCAC4 323-126197 and both observers observed a hitherto unknown satellite of the asteroid occult the same star shortly afterwards. Confirmation of the existence of the satellite occurred 20.71 days after the first observation, when two observers in California, at two separate sites observed 4337 Arecibo occult UCAC4 322-116848, and both observers observed the satellite occult the same star shortly afterwards. A third occultation, 20.78 days later, of UCAC4 323- 113857 was observed at 3 sites in California however the satellite was not detected. We find the diameter of the main body is 24.4 +/- 0.6 km and the satellite is 13.0 +/- 1.5 km - assuming they are spherical. Their separations at the two occultations were: 2021 May 19.74861: 25.5 ±1.0 mas in PA 105.2° ±1.0°. 2021 June 9.45736: 32.8 ±0.7 mas in PA 94.3° ±2.7°. We find the center of mass of the system is displaced from the main body by about 14% of the distance between the two bodies. However, our observations are insufficient to fix the orbit parameters.
Rotation Period Determination for Asteroid 663 Gerlinde
Photometric observations of the main-belt asteroid 663 Gerlinde were taken from the Uraniborg Observatory, in Ecija (Seville, Spain), in order to determine its synodic rotation period. The results are: P = 10.254 ± 0.001 h, A = 0.190 mag.
Rotational Period Determination and Taxonomic Classification for Asteroid 536 Merapi
CCD photometric observations of outer main-belt asteroid 536 Merapi were obtained in order to measure the rotation period and to find the color indexes B-V and V-R. These measures were performed using the instrumentation available at the Osservatorio Astronomico Margherita Hack located on the hills near Florence (Italy).
Lightcurve and Synodic Rotation Period for 2728 Yatskiv
A rotational lightcurve and a synodic rotation period were obtained for the first time on the main-belt asteroid 2728 Yatskiv from CCD photometric observations conducted over the time span 2021 June - September at two observatories widely separated in geographic longitude. As a result, a bimodal lightcurve phased to a period of 25.069 ± 0.006 h was established.
Lightcurves and Rotation Periods of 57 Mnemosyne and 58 Concordia
Photometric observations of five main-belt asteroids were conducted in order to determine their synodic rotation periods. For 2232 Altaj we found P = 8.089 ± 0.001 h, A = 0.30 ± 0.02 mag; for 3699 Milbourn we found P = 3.816 ± 0.002 h, A = 0.20 ± 0.02 mag; for 4101 Ruikou we found P = 8.098 ± 0.009 h, A = 0.07 ± 0.03 mag; for (6787) 1991 PF15 we found P = 4.645 ± 0.001 h, A = 0.80 ± 0.01 mag; for 8416 Okada we found P = 2.646 ± 0.001 h, A = 0.04 ± 0.02 mag.
Lightcurve Analysis of Two Potentially Hazardous Asteroids and Three Near-Earth Asteroids
Pages 14-15 Díaz-Vachier, Ian; Cotto-Figueroa, Desireé; Rivas-Díaz, Alexander; Abreu-Cintrón, Julian; Rivera-Rivera, Bryan; Santana-Rodriguez, Peter; Laureno-La Puerta, Felix 2022MPBu...49...14VDownload PDF
We report on rotation lightcurves of two potentially hazardous asteroids, 1993 KH and 2001 KY66, and three near-Earth asteroids, 2005 EC224, 2004 FM17, and 2013 OS3, performed by CCD photometric observation at the National Undergraduate Research Observatory telescope at the Lowell Observatory.
Near-Earth Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at the Center for Solar System Studies: 2021 August-October
Lightcurves of 12 near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) obtained at the Center for Solar System Studies (CS3) from 2021 July through early October were analyzed for rotation period, peak-to-peak amplitude, and signs of satellites or tumbling. We have good reason to believe that 2019 UD4 is in a tumbling state.
On Confirmed and Suspected Binary Asteroids Observed at the Center for Solar System Studies
Analysis of CCD photometric observations made at the Center for Solar System Studies from 2021 August through September suggested or confirmed that several asteroids were binary. The candidates are 5715 Ables, 7087 Lewotsky, 7173 Sepkoski, (16960) 1998 QS52, (68063) 2000 YJ66, (143649) 2003 QQ47, (159857) 2004 LJ1, and (326732) 2003 HB6.
Lightcurves of Main-Belt Asteroid 7939 Asphaug and Near-Earth Asteroid 2015 JD1
Photometric observations were conducted on main-belt asteroid 7939 Asphaug (1991 AP1) and potentially hazardous asteroid 2015 JD1. Results reveal rotation periods of P = 3.563 ± 0.002 h and P = 5.246 ± 0.015 h, respectively.
Main-belt Asteroids Observed from CS3: 2021 July-September
Photometric observations of eight asteroids were made in order to acquire lightcurves for shape/spin axis modeling. The synodic period and lightcurve amplitude were found for 58 Concordia, 224 Oceana, 1046 Edwin, 2431 Skovoroda, 2824 Franke, (7822) 1991 CS, (143649) 2003 QQ47, and color index (V-R) for 790 Pretoria.
CCD Photometry of 29 Asteroids at Sopot Astronomical Observatory: 2020 July-2021 September
Lightcurves and synodic rotation periods for 29 asteroids determined from CCD photometric data obtained at Sopot Astronomical Observatory (SAO) over the time span 2020 July - 2021 September are presented in this paper.
The following list is a very small subset of the results of a search for asteroid-deepsky appulses for 2022, presenting only the highlights for the year based on close approaches of brighter asteroids to brighter DSOs.
Minor Planets at Unusually Favorable Elongations in 2022
We present the results of the CCD photometry of the comet C/2017 T2 (PanSTARRS). From more than1800 images we have constructed the lightcurve of the (presumed) nucleus and estimate the rotational period to be 5.6759 ± 0.0046 h.
We present lists of asteroid photometry opportunities for objects reaching a favorable apparition and have no or poorly-defined lightcurve parameters. Additional data on these objects will help with shape and spin axis modeling using lightcurve inversion. We have changed the presentation of the “Radar-Optical Opportunities” section to include a list of potential radar targets as well as some that are in critical need of astrometric data and, if found, might also be targets for radar. These can have ephemeris errors on the order of tens to thousands of arcseconds and, despite the current surveys, have not been observed for several years. This makes them a double challenge: first to be found and, second, to determine astrometric positions and photometric properties.
This list gives those asteroids in this issue for which physical observations (excluding astrometric only) were made. This includes lightcurves, color index, and H-G determinations, etc. In some cases, no specific results are reported due to a lack of or poor quality data. The page number is for the first page of the paper mentioning the asteroid. EP is the "go to page" value in the electronic version.
