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| Radar Images Of Binary Near-earth Asteroid 2006 VV2 |
| Presentation Time: Tuesday, 8:30 a.m. - 8:40 a.m. |
Lance A. Benner1, M. W. Busch2, M. C. Nolan3, S. J. Ostro1, J. D. Giorgini1, R. Rose1, J. S. Jao1, G. J. Black4, L. M. Carter5, M. A. Slade1, R. F. Jurgens1, A. A. Hine3
1JPL, 2California Institute of Technology, 3Arecibo Observatory, 4University of Virginia, 5Smithsonian Institution. |
| Presentation Number: 13.01 |
| We report Goldstone (8560-MHz, 3.5-cm) and Arecibo (2380-MHz, 13-cm) delay-Doppler radar images of 2006 VV2 that were obtained during March 27-April 3, 2007. The images achieve resolutions as fine as 15 m/pixel, place thousands of pixels on the object, and reveal that this object is a binary system. With a diameter of 1.8 km, the primary is modestly irregular and asymmetric. Its surface has several prominent concavities, possibly including craters, and features along the leading edges that resemble the pronounced ridge seen along the equator of binary asteroid (66391) 1999 KW4 (Ostro et al. 2006, Science 314, 1276). Several small, radar-bright features are evident on the primary and are reminiscent of features seen on (100085) 1992 UY4, which may be blocks simiilar to those seen on (25143) Itokawa by the Hayabusa spacecraft. The images resolve the secondary in Doppler frequency and range, suggest that it is roughly 500 m in diameter, and place an upper bound on its rotation period of 32 hours. The radar data cover multiple rotations by the primary and the combined radar plus photometric datasets should yield detailed 3-D shape estimates of both components and possibly the system's orbital parameters, mass, and bulk density. |
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