First rotation period of a Kuiper Belt Object measured

Eso_eso9851a_1024

eso_eso9851a November 5th, 1998

Credit: ESO

The top panel shows a composite image of the Kuiper Belt Object 1996 TO66 (round image at the center), totalling 4 hours of exposure with the EMMI multi-mode instrument at the 3.6-m New Technology Telescope (NTT) at La Silla. During the exposure, the object moved with respect to the background stars; this motion was compensated for and the KBO therefore appears as a point, while the images of background stars are trailed. The bright, nearly horizontal line that crosses the entire field is the light trail left by a geostationary satellite in orbit around the Earth, that crossed the field of view during one of the exposures. The lower panel is the composite "light-curve" of 1996 TO66, showing its brightness ("red magnitude") variations with time (in hours). The dots and the corresponding "error bars" represent the actual measurements from several nights and their uncertainties, while the solid line is a mathematic fit through these points. It was used to determine the rotation period of 1996 TO66 as about 6 hours and 15 minutes.

Provider: European Southern Observatory

Image Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso9851a/

Curator: European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
1996 TO66 Kuiper Belt Objects
Subject - Solar System
Interplanetary Body > Dwarf planet

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Grayscale NTT (EMMI) Optical -
Eso_eso9851a_1280
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ID
eso9851a
Subject Category
A.2.1  
Subject Name
1996 TO66, Kuiper Belt Objects
Credits
ESO
Release Date
1998-11-05T00:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso9851a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
New Technology Telescope
Instrument
EMMI
Color Assignment
Grayscale
Band
Optical
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
2916.0, 3024.0
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
European Southern Observatory
URL
http://www.eso.org/
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
City
Garching bei München
State/Province
Postal Code
D-85748
Country
Germany
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
European Southern Observatory
Publisher ID
eso
Resource ID
eso9851a
Metadata Date
2009-01-20T10:49:57+01:00
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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