Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 24, 2025

Surface Mapping of Earth-like Exoplanets using Single Point Light Curves
Published on: May 10, 2020
LIGHTCURVE ANALYSIS OF NEA (154244) 2002 KL6: A POTENTIAL NEW BINARY ASTEROID
Brian D Warner1, Vladimir Benishek2, Andrea Ferrero3
1Center for Solar System Studies - Palmer Divide Station, 446 Sycamore Ave., Eaton, CO 80615 USA.
Abstract:
Analysis of CCD photometric observations of near-Earth asteroid (154244) 2002 KL6 indicate that it may be a binary system. The presumed primary has a synodic rotation period of 4.60869 ± 0.00005 h and lightcurve amplitude of 0.65 ± 0.03 mag. The presumed satellite has an orbital period of 24.05 ± 0.02 h and maximum lightcurve amplitude of 0.07 mag. The secondary lightcurve showed no mutual events and seems to indicate that the satellite's rotation is tidally locked to its orbital period.
Related Concept Videos
Kepler's Second Law of Planetary Motion
While in an elliptical orbit, the total energy of the planet is conserved. Therefore, the planet slows down when it is at apogee and...
Detection of Black Holes
Their closest cousins are neutron stars, which are composed almost entirely of neutrons packed against each other, making them extremely dense. A neutron star has the same mass as the Sun but its diameter is only a few kilometers. Therefore, the escape velocity from their surface is close to the speed of light.
Not until the 1960s, when the first neutron...
Circular Orbits and Critical Velocity for Satellites
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) first suggested that the Earth and all other planets orbit the Sun in...
Relative Motion Analysis using Rotating Axes
However, to express the relative position of point B relative to point A, an additional frame of reference, denoted as x'y', is necessary. This additional frame not only translates but also rotates relative to the fixed frame, making it...
Emission Spectra
Energy of a Satellite in a Circular Orbit

