* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: KBO (55636) 2002 TX300

Blobrana · L

Kuiper Belt Object 55636 (2002 TX300) is at Opposition (41.885 AU) on the 17th October, 2012

Blobrana · L

Kuiper Belt Object 55636 (2002 TX300) is at Opposition (40.850 AU) on the 15th October, 2011.

Blobrana · L

Google earth file: Kuiper Belt Object (55636) 2002 TX3.kmz (15kb, kmz)

Ephemeris

Date    TT    R. A. (2000) Decl.     Delta      r     Elong.  Phase     V
2011 10 14    00 46 48.4 +30 04 41  40.8482 41.7675   156.9     0.5    19.5
2011 10 15    00 46 43.1 +30 04 13  40.8481 41.7678   157.0     0.5    19.5
2011 10 16    00 46 37.8 +30 03 45  40.8483 41.7681   157.0     0.5    19.5

Blobrana · L

Professor James Elliot of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and colleagues used this method of 'stellar occultation' to study one KBO, labelled 55636.
Using a network of 20 telescopes across the globe, the team had 10 seconds during which to observe KBO 55636 and calculate the mean radius as 143 kilometres.
They then combined this diameter measurement with well-known measurements of KBO 55636's brightness to calculate the albedo, or reflectivity, of the object.
The albedo was a lot greater than previously thought implying the presence of pristine water-ice on its surface.
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Blobrana · L

MIT leads the first team to study a Kuiper Belt object during a stellar occultation

Until now, astronomers have used telescopes to find Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs), moon-sized bodies, and obtain their spectra to determine what types of ices are on their surface. They have also used thermal-imaging techniques to get a rough idea of the size of KBOs, but other details have been difficult to glean. While astronomers think there are about 70,000 KBOs that are larger than 100 kilometres in diameter, the objects' relatively small size and location make it hard to study them in detail. One method that has been has been proposed for studying KBOs is to observe one as it passes briefly in front of a bright star; such events, known as stellar occultations, have yielded useful information about other planets in the solar system. By monitoring the changes in starlight that occur during an occultation, astronomers can determine the object's size and temperature, whether it has any companion objects and if it has an atmosphere.
The trick is to know enough about the orbit of a KBO to be able to predict its path and observe it as it passes in front of a star. This was done successfully for the first time last October when a team of 18 astronomy groups led by James Elliot, a professor of planetary astronomy in MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, observed an occultation by an object named "KBO 55636."
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Blobrana · L

Astronomers say they have observed, for the first time, a distant icy world orbiting beyond Neptune as it passed briefly in front of a bright star.
This "stellar occultation" occurs when a planetary body hides a star as it moves across the sky.
A US-led team of 18 astronomy groups used the occasion to study KBO 55636 from the Kuiper Belt on the outskirts of the Solar System.
They tell the journal Nature that the occultation lasted only 10 seconds
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Blobrana · L

Distant rock caught by Earth-bound telescopes

In a technical feat, astronomers measured the size of a small rock six billion kilometres away to an accuracy of a few kilometres and found its surface to be a mysterious ice-like white.
Years of planning combined with a network of telescopes to grab the first pictures of the Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) through a method of celestial alignment, they reported on Wednesday in the British science journal Nature.
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(55636) 2002 TX300 is a bright dwarf planet candidate in the outer Solar System estimated to be about 360 km in diameter. It is a large Haumea family member, discovered in October 15, 2002 by the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) program.
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