ANOTHER TRIO OF POSSIBLE VERY WIDE BINARY ASTEROIDS

Area of Science:

• Astronomy and astrophysics
• Planetary science

Background:

• Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) are objects whose orbits bring them close to Earth.
• Binary asteroids, especially wide binaries, are rare and provide insights into asteroid formation and evolution.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the lightcurves of NEAs (442742) 2012 WP3, (523604) 2004 QB17, and 2018 RL.
• To determine if these NEAs are potential members of the rare "very wide binary asteroid" class.

Main Methods:

• Lightcurve analysis was performed on the selected near-Earth asteroids.
• Rotational periods (primary and secondary) were determined from the lightcurve data.

Main Results:

• The analysis indicates that asteroids 2012 WP3, 2004 QB17, and 2018 RL are potential members of the "very wide binary asteroid" class.
• These objects exhibit a primary rotational period of tens to hundreds of hours and a secondary rotational period under 24 hours (often under 10 hours).
• The inclusion of these three asteroids increases the total number of suspected very wide binary asteroids to 30.

Conclusions:

• The study identifies three new potential very wide binary asteroids, expanding the known population of this rare class.
• The findings contribute to our understanding of asteroid system dynamics and formation.
• Further observations are warranted to confirm the binary nature and refine the properties of these newly identified objects.